The Divine Spirit
by Sorata Shioya
Summary: Remembering nothing sans his name and Personas, Arisato Minato was hoping for a silver lining to his situation after waking up in an unfamiliar city. When he met Tobiichi Origami and Itsuka Shido, he never expected to be involved in clashes between girls in suits of mechanical armor and beings called Spirits... or that he would also be designated as a Spirit. AU.
1. Spring of Awakening

**The Divine Spirit**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Spring of Awakening**

* * *

_"I won't let you make that face." _— _Itsuka Shido_

* * *

Nothing.

There was absolutely nothing as far as the eye can see.

Nothing to see. Nothing to hear.

A realm of nothingness and darkness.

It was daunting.

Mundane.

Desolate.

He couldn't move. He couldn't feel anything but the darkness that surrounded him.

He didn't know where he was or why he was here.

He felt empty.

He felt alone.

He felt sad.

It was completely dreadful.

_'...'_

".e..."

_'...?'_

"..ey..."

A voice was heard...

_'...Who's there?'_

"...xc...s... me..."

_'...Where?'_

Where was it originating from?

"...Are you injured?"

It was getting closer...

_'...Huh?'_

Everything then started to fade away.

* * *

A pair of gray eyes slowly opened, blinking a few times. Bright light invaded their vision, making the eyes squint in recoil. Everything was blurred out of proportions.

Only a few seconds later did the eyes regain sight.

"Ugh..."

"You're awake."

"...What?" A blue-haired boy murmured.

He felt that he was lying on his stomach, hardly moving. Whatever he was on, it was as solid as a rock. His vision was beginning to return to him. When it did, he saw someone crouching down in front of him.

"Hmm?" There was a girl who was tilting her head. Her white hair was barely reaching her shoulders. On her face was a bandage attached to her left cheek. Her arms and legs also had bandages wrapped around them. She was staring down at the blue-haired boy in front of her with her blue eyes, showing little to no emotion in them. She was also wearing a uniform of sorts.

Blinking a few times at the sight of the girl, the blue-haired boy began to stand up. He felt that his body was a bit tired, but he chalked it up to himself sleeping just a short while ago. He looked towards the white-haired girl with a look of confusion.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"The same could be said about you." Her voice, like her eyes, showed no emotion.

"Oh, sorry. My name is Arisato Minato," the blue-haired male introduced himself, deciding to reveal his name.

The white-haired girl nodded. "Tobiichi Origami," she said, revealing her name. Again, no signs of emotion was heard or shown.

Minato's attention darted towards Origami's bandages. "Did you get hurt?"

"Hmm?"

Minato pointed to his left cheek. "Your bandages."

Origami placed her hand on her cheek. "Ah. They are minor injuries. Do not worry."

"That's good." Minato said that without thinking. Why was that? Did he not like seeing someone injured?

"Your concern isn't necessary, but thank you," Origami thanked. "Why were you on the ground?"

Minato raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"You were on the ground. Why?"

"Hmm..." Minato didn't really know the answer to that. _Why_ was he on the ground? What was he even doing? "To be perfectly honest, I don't know," he answered truthfully.

Origami stared at Minato for a moment, not saying anything immediately. To Minato, it seemed like she was analyzing him. He was waiting to hear a response from her.

Before the quietness dragged on for too long, Origami simply said, "Okay."

"Huh? That's it?" Minato asked, a bit surprised. With a vague answer like that, why didn't she ask him more questions? Was Origami not that nosy? Or did she just assume that Minato was abnormal?

Origami nodded. "I was just passing by to see how the construction was going." She pointed to her left with her pointer finger. Minato turned his head with regard to that direction and saw a large building that stretched wide horizontally, but parts of it were destroyed. Debris was heavily focused on the right side. There were construction vehicles and equipment at the base of the building. No one, not even construction workers, was around, though. "I found you face down on the ground moments ago," Origami continued.

"Is that so?" Minato was kind of touched. A random person decided to help him just like that? It was nice to know that there were people like Origami in the world. "My gratitude, Tobiichi-san," he said as he bowed in front of Origami.

Origami shook her head. "No need. I must return home now. I only came to see how far in construction this building was. Due to recent events, it seems that it will take some time before it's finished." She began to walk past Minato in another direction. After walking a few feet away, she stopped and turned her head back. "It was nice to meet you, Arisato-san." She then continued on her way.

Minato glanced at the direction Origami was walking in. _'What a strange girl,'_ he thought. Her personality seemed to be devoid of any emotion. But she appeared to be rather considerate.

Shortly after Origami left, Minato realized something.

"Where am I?" He looked around him. His surroundings were completely unknown to him. It looked like he was in Japan, considering the kanji letters on some buildings and signs, but the area wasn't known to Minato.

Not only that, there was a more pressing matter at hand.

"...Why can't I remember anything?"

* * *

"Clothes. Check. Mp3. Check. Headphones. Check. Evoker. Check. Hair? ...Check."

Now by an arcade, Minato was trying to see what he had on him. Everything he thought was necessary was with him. He saw his reflection in the arcade's glass window. Minato's hair was blue and long, his bangs covering his right eye. Both of his eyes were gray. Also, he was wearing a black school uniform, judging from the emblem on his blazer. He also noticed something on him that didn't appear to be familiar.

"An armband?" His left arm sported a red armband that spelled out "S.E.E.S." in black lettering. "...I'll leave it on. It looks sort of cool. Now, is that everything? What about money?" He reached for all of his pockets.

Minato's shoulders then slumped in disappointment. "It look likes I'm broke..." He sighed, facepalming at the same time. His situation just became more bleak. Without money, he couldn't purchase anything that could be essential for living. In other words, he wasn't able to buy food to sustain him. That was his biggest concern right now, other than not being aware of having a place to stay at.

And there was, of course, the issue of not knowing who he was. For some unexplainable reason, he had knowledge of his name and his unique power, but his memories eluded him. As hard as he tried to recall something, nothing arose in his mind.

Although, he could have sworn he heard a faint voice when he attempted to reminisce. However, it was too difficult to make out what that voice said. It sounded as if it was... distorted, like hearing someone communicating through a phone while the connection was atrocious. That being said, it only helped in broadening Minato's confusion.

As a result of finding more mysteries than answers, Minato couldn't think clearly. He wasn't sure what to do now.

He frowned, as he leaned against the arcade's exterior while crossing his arms. Another sigh escaped from his mouth as he looked up and began to stare at the blue sky.

"This isn't good."

* * *

"Arisato-san."

It had not been long since Minato last saw Tobiichi Origami. Half an hour, to be exact.

He had elected to go inside the arcade to clear his mind. While watching a pair of twins, both of whom were garbed in questionable attire, competitively playing a racing game against each other, Origami managed to approach him from behind without gaining his attention until she spoke up.

"Oh. Hello, Tobiichi-san. What are you doing here?" Minato asked composedly, turning his attention to the white-haired girl. He wasn't expecting to see her so soon, or at all. He also wasn't sure how he didn't notice her earlier. He supposed he was too engrossed in observing others playing video games.

"The same could be said about you," Origami repeated the same words from earlier. The way she talked made Minato feel comfortable. He didn't know why, though. Her personality, from what he could understand, was one that he liked. Observant, yet silently caring.

"Before that, I thought you went home," Minato said, recalling what Origami said before she left an hour ago.

"I did, but I decided that I wanted to go see someone," Origami countered.

"...In an arcade?" Minato tilted his head.

Origami shook her head before replying, "No. I just happened to see you through the window while I was on my way. It was only a coincidence that I found you here."

"I see..." Minato mumbled. It was a reasonable explanation. Her meeting someone in an arcade to go on a date with or to just hangout sounded feasible, too. "If you want to know, I'm only here because I don't know where to go."

Origami tilted her head.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

For a moment, Minato hesitated in telling Origami the truth.

"I can't remember my past."

However, he decided to be straight with her. He was clueless as to what he should do since he was an amnesiac. He didn't like feeling hopeless, but that was how he felt upon realizing the severity of his situation. Hopeless.

So, he adamantly made the choice to reach out to others. Not informing someone of his situation could have been a bad judgment call. He did not know what the future held for him; isolating himself wasn't the way to go, though.

"...Even though you know your name?" Origami wondered curiously, eliciting a bitter laugh from the bluenette.

Minato had expected a response like that.

"I know it sounds outlandish," Minato began to reason, "but my name is the only thing I can remember about myself."

He half-lied. In truth, after Origami left, Minato realized that he could only recall his name and his Persona powers. Nothing else.

He purposely left out his ability to summon a Persona, or in his case, multiple Personas. What was the point in telling someone that? Not just anyone can have the potential to use a Persona or even have knowledge of them.

"When I try to think of where I live or if I have family, nothing comes to my mind. Anything other than my name is hazy. I'm only in this arcade because I have nowhere to go... and to try to sort out my thoughts. For starters, I don't even which city I'm in," Minato concluded and frowned. Without a hint to his whereabouts or memories, he wasn't sure what will happen to him. This dilemma was something no person should experience.

Origami gazed at Minato with her trademark emotionless expression, but she was carefully taking in the information he gave her. Despite his odd story, she believed the blue-haired boy was telling the truth. Admittedly, it was because he reminded her of herself. Personality-wise, Origami and Minato almost acted similarly.

That, and Origami knew what it was like to be hopeless. The melancholy in Minato's gray eyes was almost easy for her to see.

"Tengu City," she said.

"Huh?" Minato cocked an eyebrow.

"Tengu City," Origami repeated. "That's the city you are currently in."

"...Ah. Alright. Thanks, Tobiichi-san. That name doesn't sound familiar, though..." Minato mumbled. He didn't know that there was a city by that name. It didn't ring any bells. Was that another memory forgotten? Why can't he remember anything? Frustration started to build up inside him as those thoughts repeated themselves in his mind.

Origami suddenly took one of Minato's hands and held it with hers, taking him by slight surprise.

"Come with me," she insisted.

"To where?" Minato wondered.

"You can stay with someone I know, Arisato-san," Origami replied.

"You mean, that someone you know is going to let me stay at their place?" She nodded. "But why though? Won't I just be a burden to them?" He was taken aback by her kindness. He hardly knew Origami, and she hardly knew him, yet she was offering him a place to stay?

"Because you remind me of myself," Origami responded simply. While her monotonous tone said otherwise, Minato was able to indicate a touch of sadness in her words. Did something happen to her in the past? If so, it seemed too personal to bring up, so he thought it was best not to push the matter further. "And they won't mind," she added.

"...I don't know what to say, Tobiichi-san... Other than thank you..." Minato said, nodding. Never before did he experience such magnanimity.

At least, that's what he told himself. Memory loss can do that to a person.

Origami nodded again, accepting his gratitude.

"Let's go. His home is not too far from here, Arisato-san."

* * *

Minato and Origami arrived at a home within the span of a half hour that was normal by the looks of it. The home was located in a suburban area of Tengu City. It consisted of two floors and it looked nice. It also came with a garage. Origami rang the doorbell at the front door and a voice was heard from inside.

"Shido! Go get the door!" A feminine, demanding voice called out.

"Yeah, yeah," another voice replied, sounding both casual and annoyed. "Coming!"

The front door was opened. It revealed a young man with amber brown eyes whose height was about the same as Minato's. He also had the same shade of blue hair as Minato's, but the hairstyle was different.

"T-Tobiichi-san?" The other blue-haired teen inquired. His face showed confusion and shock. "What are you doing here? Should you really be walking around and about? ...And how do you know where I live?" The last bit of info made Minato wonder what he meant by it, but he shrugged it off.

"I'm sorry," Origami suddenly apologized and bowed, surprising both Minato and the other blue-haired boy. "Though I know an apology is not nearly enough."

"What are you guys talking about?" Minato asked, genuinely perplexed by the altercation.

"I-It's nothing!" The other blue-haired teen waved his arms frantically. "I-It's fine, Tobiichi-san. I forgive you, so could you please stop bowing? Everything turned out for the best, didn't it?" The guy looked embarrassed, most likely because there was another person viewing the commotion. His gaze was then redirected to Minato, who was standing next to Origami as she straightened herself. "So... who's your friend?"

"Arisato Minato," Origami answered, gesturing to Minato. He held up a hand in greeting.

"Hello," Minato greeted with a small smile.

"Oh, nice to meet you, Arisato-san. I'm Itsuka Shido," the other blue-haired boy said, politely introducing himself. "What can I do for you two?"

Before Minato could answer, Origami cut him off. "Arisato-san has a case of amnesia, Shido."

Shido appeared to be shocked from the announcement. His facial expression held a mix of sympathy and seriousness. "Really? I'm sorry to hear that, Arisato-san."

Minato shook his head. "Don't worry. It's fine."

"Shido," Origami continued, "could you take Arisato-san into your home for the time being? He doesn't know where his actual home is, and my apartment doesn't have enough space for him and I."

Shido took a step back.

"Wh-What?"

Origami approached Shido, intruding his personal space. "Do it for your girlfriend, Shido."

Briefly breaking out in a cold sweat, Shido then said, "U-Uh... I guess my home is big enough for one more." He then faced Minato. "It's only my little sister and I here, Arisato-san. I hope you don't mind."

"No... It's alright," Minato said. "This is a generous act that I don't even know how to repay for it. Taking me in when you hardly know me... You're either very kind or very gullible."

Shido laughed awkwardly.

"People have told me both."

"Regardless," the amnesiac continued, "thank you, Shido. I hope we get along." Minato bowed. "By the way, you can call me Minato. I don't mind." Shido smiled.

"Well, welcome home then, Minato!"

A small smile crept on Origami's face for a fleeting moment. Shido's kindness was one thing that she admired him for. Her face then reverted back to its neutral appearance.

"Shido, Arisato-san. I must go now." Origami came closer to Shido's face again. "I entrust him to you."

"R-Right!" Shido stuttered.

Origami nodded and went on her way to wherever she had to be, with the two blue-haired teens watching her form retreating in the distance.

* * *

_'Shido is reliable,' _Origami mused, nodding to herself and glancing back at her boyfriend's home before resuming her walk.

With Shido, she believed he could help Arisato Minato far better than she could.

_'Arisato-san is in good hands.'_

* * *

"Okay, Minato. Let me show you around the house." Shido motioned for Minato to come inside. Minato nodded and entered the house with Shido. The pair walked through a hall that had a staircase leading to the second floor and entered a living room area. There was a purple couch that arched in in a right angle, a low-level, square-shaped brown table and a television set. There was a small girl sitting on the couch watching the TV which had an anime on. Her hair was red and in twin tails, with white ribbons maintaining them. She also had a sucker in her mouth.

"Kotori," Shido called out, "come meet our new housemate." The red-haired girl turned and saw the blue-haired duo.

"Ohhhh!" She exclaimed in excitement. She jumped off the couch and speed-walked to Minato, inspecting around him from different angles with curiosity. Minato didn't mind the redhead's intense desire of interest as he stood still. "Onii-chan, who is this?"

"This is Arisato Minato, Kotori," Shido introduced. "Minato, this is my little sister, Kotori." Minato waved at Kotori.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kotori-san," he said.

Kotori's mouth formed one of the biggest smiles Shido had ever seen.

"Wow, Onii-chan! I didn't know you had a friend like Arisato-san! I didn't know you had any friends at all!" Shido's eyes narrowed as he gave her a flat stare.

"Very funny," Shido deadpanned. "Anyway, Tobiichi brought Minato to me because he has amnesia and doesn't know where to go," he explained. Rubbing the back of his head, he then added, "And... I couldn't exactly turn him _and_ Tobiichi down. Until he remembers more of his past, I decided that he could stay with us."

Shido was the type of person who did not enjoy seeing people suffer. Right now, Minato reminded Shido of himself when he was younger, just when he was abandoned by his birth mother. Out of habit, Shido willingly took Minato in when others would realistically doubt Minato's story. Without any memories other than his name, Arisato Minato was someone who was legitimately lost in this world. The thought of him wandering aimlessly without proper guidance or knowledge almost made Shido shudder.

For now, Itsuka Shido would take responsibility for the blue-haired amnesiac. Hopefully, some day, he would help Minato in regaining his memories.

While he was musing over his thoughts, he and Minato apparently failed to notice that Kotori was crying in a rather cute and comedic way. She then leaped forward and hugged Minato's waist, taking him and Shido by surprise.

"Waaaaaah! Arisato-san can stay here, right, Onii-chan?" She asked Shido with teary, puppy-dog eyes.

"Y-Yeah, he can," Shido stammered, admittedly overwhelmed by her crying.

"Arisato-san?" Kotori took looked towards Minato.

"Y-Yes?" He, too, was overwhelmed by the amount of emotion Shido's sister was displaying.

"Can you become Onii-chan's best friend? He needs friends!" Minato sweatdropped. He glanced at Shido for a reaction, in turn receiving an embarrassed grin from the other bluenette. Minato then cautiously assumed that Kotori was telling the truth.

He understood that friendship can come in many different forms. Some may take a while to create, while others could spring at the drop of a hat. Results vary, depending on the people who form friendships.

Itsuka Shido, though, seemed to be the type of person Minato wished to befriend, taking into account the generosity he had been given recently. Perhaps they could be... best friends.

"...Sure. We'll be the best of friends, Kotori-san." Minato patted her head to comfort her. As a result, she was finally beginning to calm down.

"Yay!" Kotori exclaimed happily, finally releasing her grip on Minato. Shido then cleared his throat.

"We'll try our best to help you regain your memories, Minato. We'll also see if we can find anyone related to you during your stay at our home. That way, maybe things for you will become clearer."

"I appreciate that, Shido. Thank you," Minato responded with a smile.

Shido briefly smiled, but he then remembered something that had been bothering him ever since Minato showed up.

"By the way, I don't recognize that school uniform from anywhere, Minato. Were you supposed to be a transfer student?" He brought up. The school symbol he noticed on the amnesiac's uniform was one he believed he had never seen in his life.

"None of the schools in Tengu City have this uniform?" Minato asked, pointing at his clothes.

"Yeah... I'm pretty sure of it," Shido attested.

A bitter sigh escaped from Minato.

"My amnesia sure is a pain..." Minato palmed his face in minor exasperation. "I don't even know if I was a transfer student, Shido... I'm sorry. This is so ridiculous. I do want an education at the very least... But with my condition, that won't be possible..." Most students would gladly not go to school if it wasn't such a grand factor in their later years. Minato, although suffering from memory loss, knew the importance of having an education.

The Itsuka siblings felt bad for Minato. Even with amnesia, he still wanted to attend school? That won some respect in their eyes.

Feeling some of Minato's despair and determining to subvert it, Shido faced his sister to ask for a favor.

"Kotori, do you think you can use your 'connections' to have Minato enrolled into my high school if he isn't already?" Shido asked. "This is the first time I've seen him and I'm not sure if he was supposed to transfer in or not."

"...Connections?" Minato tilted his head.

"Oh, sure, Onii-chan!" Kotori said while nodding, ignoring Minato's confusion. "How old are you, Arisato-san?"

"Ano... Sixteen? Maybe seventeen?" Minato said hesitantly. He was still wondering what Shido and Kotori meant by "connections"; he decided to let it go. At this point, he didn't care anymore. "I'm not entirely positive." He sighed while also running his hand through his hair. "Annoying memory loss... If I had to guess, I look about Shido's age. What year are you in, Shido?"

"Second-year in high school." Minato nodded in affirmation.

"Alright. I'll enroll in that year, then. Perhaps I'm younger or older than I believe, but being a second-year in high school sounds... right, for some reason." He couldn't tell if he was old enough to be Shido's senpai or not, but Minato had a strong feeling that he wasn't older or younger than Shido.

Because the current topic was about school, a thought related to it emerged in Minato's mind. "Hey guys?"

"What's up, Minato?" Shido asked.

"What day is it today?"

"Today is Saturday," Kotori answered casually.

Minato blinked.

"Why are you guys not at school right now, then?" He questioned. It was Japan's norm for students to go to school six days a week, Monday through Saturday. "Is today a holiday?"

"...Oh!" Shido said, hitting his palm with his fist upon understanding Minato's confusion. "Well, my high school got hit by a spacequake recently. A large part of it was wiped out, so it's being repaired now. I probably won't go back until some time next week."

"My school got hit too!" Kotori included.

Once again, Minato was at a loss.

"Space... quake? What is that?"

Shido and Kotori glanced at each other before turning back to Minato.

"It looks like your case of amnesia is more severe than I thought." Shido sighed, his expression becoming more solemn. Kotori nodded in agreement. "Come sit on the couch with us, Minato. It will take some time to explain things in order to get you up to speed."

* * *

**Some Time Later**

* * *

"Did you understand everything, Minato?" Shido tiredly asked the bluenette sitting next to him. Afternoon just arrived. The sun had started to set. Kotori was sleeping soundly on the floor next to Shido's feet. "This type of thing is kind of morbid to talk about."

Spacequakes. They're widespread disturbances of space of unknown origin. As the name suggests, it's when a region of space shakes, destroying all within. Nobody knows why they happen. It all started thirty years ago, in the middle of Eurasia. The region consisted of countries such as China, Mongolia, and the Soviet Union. Without warning, the first ever recorded spacequake struck. Those countries were utterly annihilated by it, leaving behind mass destruction and emptiness in its wake. Casualties were reported to be as high as 150 million. It was the largest and deadliest disaster in human history.

After that incident that became known as the Eurasia Sky Disaster, numerous spacequakes occurred across the globe for the next six months, but they weren't as devastating at the first spacequake. The estimated number was around fifty. In Japan, there was one spacequake that leveled an area heavily that was also well known: the Great South Kanto Area Spacequake. There were no more in the following twenty-five years, but starting five years ago, beginning in the reformed Tengu City, the spacequakes have been on the rise. To make things worst, Japan's getting most of them.

Humanity has developed safety precautions in order to combat these disasters of mass destruction. The most important aspect of these precautions was to evacuate civilians to underground shelters. Most buildings and facilities were designed to vacate civilians to the shelters before incoming spacequakes destroy areas. Should areas get ravaged, a group called the Restoration Forces gets sent in to repair what had been destroyed. Due to spacequakes' frequency and differentiating damage levels, the group restores things fairly fast.

"Yeah... I think I do," Minato replied, sounding tired as well. "Spacequakes sound pretty dangerous. Thanks for telling me all of this, Shido. If I hadn't learned about it sooner, I probably would have brushed it off as some lies."

"No problem," Shido said. He acknowledged that it had been some time since Minato came into his home. With that, he asked a question concerning the bluenette's well-being. "Sorry if I didn't ask this sooner, but are you hungry, Minato?"

As soon as Shido asked that, Minato's stomach growled.

"Heh..." Minato rubbed the back of his head. "I forgot that I haven't eaten at all today."

Shido chuckled at this. "Well, you're in luck! Since my parents' jobs keep them busy away from home, I had to be the adult and do most of the chores in this house, especially cooking for Kotori and I. How about I make us some itamemono?"

Minato grinned.

"That sounds sweet."

Kotori immediately woke up.

"SWEETS!"

* * *

**Two Days Later**

* * *

"Here we are, Minato," Shido said, guiding Minato to their high school. Both of them were now in Raizen High School male uniforms for second-years. The uniforms consisted of black blazers, white shirts beneath them, accompanied with grey trousers. They also had to wear blue-and-white neckties. Minato had kept his headphones and mp3 player on his person. He couldn't go anywhere without them, considering how he liked listening to his music.

After walking some distance from Shido's home, they reached the entrance of the school. Other students could be seen talking with each other or checking their phones as they walked inside.

"Wait... This is that building I saw that was under construction," Minato pointed out, remembering where he and Origami initially met. It was already complete within two days?

"Pretty fast, right? The Restoration Forces do a great job at, well, restoring things," Shido commented. "You know, it's kind of interesting that you'll be transferring into my class, Class 4. What are the odds of that, right?" Shido laughed nervously, almost like he was hiding something. Minato noticed this but ignored it.

"I wonder if I'll make a good impression," Minato wondered.

* * *

"...Haaah."

Shido absentmindedly sighed while staring at the ceiling of his classroom. A lot of things happened in the past few days for him. His thoughts were fixated on a certain someone he wasn't able to see since Friday. He couldn't visit them, or rather, he was prohibited from doing so, which bothered him quite a bit.

And then there was Arisato Minato. Tobiichi Origami, Shido's "girlfriend," practically left Minato in his care. Minato was an amnesiac, someone who lost their memories. Shido could sympathize with the other blue-haired teen. When he was younger, an incident left him without memories as well. Many years passed since then and he still couldn't remember his past very well. Shido figured it was best not to think about it so much. The present and future were more important to him. It was because of this mindset that he wanted to help Minato recover from his condition.

He knew it from the beginning, but investigating an amnesiac's past was a difficult task to accomplish. The last two days held no results for him, Minato, and Kotori when they wandered through Tengu City for any indication of Minato's past. With Minato understandably disappointed, it was up to Shido and Kotori to cheer him up, insisting that his memories would come back to him.

When taking breaks in their search, the Itsuka siblings gained a better understanding of Minato's personality. Whether it was because he was an amnesiac or not, Minato was a soft-spoken individual, usually not speaking unless he was being spoken to, but there were occasions where he initiated conversations himself. He was very observant of his surroundings and was fond of listening to the music he had on his mp3 player. Though what type of mp3 he had eluded both Shido and Kotori, including Minato's headphones, to which they decided to not give a second thought. Minato also possessed a proficiency in culinary arts that was on par with Shido's, much to the Itsuka siblings' initial surprise. It was yesterday when they found out. The blue-haired amnesiac had prepared dinner, specifically sashimi, for them as thanks for their hospitality. Kotori was absolutely elated by Minato's food when she tasted it, along with Shido.

Despite his past being enshrouded in mystery, Arisato Minato appeared to be a pleasant person to be with.

"Something wrong, Itsuka?" A student with swept-back, spiky black hair and blackish-gray eyes stood in front of Shido. His name was Tonomachi Hiroto. He was a classmate of Shido's who spoke to him more often than anyone else in school.

"Oh. Hey, Tonomachi," Shido said exhaustively. "I'm fine. I'm just tired. It's been a long weekend for me."

Tonomachi chuckled. "Well, duh. It's been a long weekend for all of us because of that spacequake that hit our school. So, what happened to that cute girl I saw you were on a date with Friday? Did you two break up?"

Shido grunted. "No, we didn't. I also don't want to talk about it." Shido's eyes narrowed in another direction. Seeing Shido's seriousness, Tonomachi decided to drop the conversation and returned to his seat, pulling out his cellphone to check up on his own "girlfriend." Then, at that time, the door of the classroom slid open and a student walked through it. That person was...

"Tobiichi?" Shido stood up from his seat. Origami was still covered with bandages like Shido remembered. Everyone in the classroom was abuzz, their whispering and gazes gathered on Origami's appearance. She walked over to Shido with a couple of uncertain steps until she was right in front of him. "I-I'm glad to see you're doing well, Tobiichi-san," he said, trying to ignore the several stares he was getting from his classmates.

Origami unexpectedly gave a deep bow. Shido was taken by surprise and the classroom was becoming noisy as a result. "I'm sorry, Shido. After what I did, I felt guilty for putting more responsibility on you. Is he all right?"

The classroom went into an uproar, everyone's attention focusing on Shido and Origami.

"Wha... Itsuka, did you do something to Tobiichi!?"

"'More responsibility'?!"

"Did she say 'is he all right'!?"

"Get your minds out of the gutter!" Shido shouted to his gossiping classmates. Unfortunately, there was no way he could explain the situation in detail. Shido faced Origami again, who was still bowing. "I-I'll forgive you, so for now raise your head." Origami obediently straightened up. Shido leaned in closer to Origami's ear and whispered into it. "He's fine. He's crashing at my place still."

Origami gave a silent nod. "But." She gripped Shido's necktie and pulled her face close to Shido's, her emotionless expression not even changing in the slightest. Shido let out a small yelp.

"No cheating."

"...Huh?"

Everyone's, including Shido's, eyes became dots when they witnessed the entire scene. Then the chime that signaled the start of homeroom rang. The students, save Shido and Origami, returned to their assigned seats, still glancing with interest. Origami continued to stare intently at Shido's face, however.

* * *

Minato stood near the entrance of Class 4 in an empty hallway. The school day had technically begun a while ago, but he was a new student at Raizen High that had yet to be introduced. He was waiting for his soon-to-be teacher to show up so that his introduction will go underway.

Whatever Shido meant by Kotori's "connections" had somehow gotten him transferred in without much difficulty, even if he was an amnesiac. It did make him wonder who exactly he was he living with, but he did not want to indulge on the matter too much. Being inquisitive about other people's affairs could have placed him in a bad situation.

He had to admit, he was sort of excited to be a student. Although he lost his memories, he could still pursue an education. That was one of the few silver linings he came across these past few days.

Shido and Kotori were fine with him staying with them, and they promised to support him through his crisis. They offered him to stay with them for as long as he needed to, which took Minato by surprise. Their hospitality was overwhelming, and he told them that he believed he would be taking advantage of them if his stay dragged on. To his mild shock, Shido said that it would be fine and told him not to worry about it. Kotori, on the other hand, wanted the amnesiac bluenette to stay so that her onii-chan would have at least one friend, since she believed Shido didn't really have one true friend. Shido, in order to cover up his own embarrassment, assured Minato that Kotori was just lonely and wanted to have another person around the house, to which the redhead admitted was partially true.

The Itsuka siblings were, for lack of a better word, unique, in Minato's opinion. They did, however, make him feel at home and were very caring. They even took the amnesiac out for walks in Tengu City so that he may recall a few things from his past. He couldn't, unfortunately, remember anything, but he did become more acclimated to the city.

After a couple of moments, Minato was brought out of his reminiscing when he found himself being stared at by a girl. Her ponytailed hair was purple, like her eyes. She also wore a female Raizen High uniform.

"Is that you, Shido?!" The girl asked hopefully. "I missed you so much!" She began jumping up and down in joy.

"Ano... Who are you?" Minato wondered sincerely with his head tilted. Who was this person that mistook him for Shido? Granted, they both had blue hair and the same height, so it made sense to Minato as to why this girl misidentified him.

The girl's mouth dropped from shock when she heard his question.

"What!? How could you not know who I am?! Don't you remember me? We went on that date, and there were all these tasty things I ate, and I had so much fun with you!" She cried out, beginning to pout with her arms crossed.

_'...Is she your girlfriend, Shido?'_ Minato thought. In all honesty, the girl in front of him was definitely a real knockout in terms of appearance. Her body was the type many other girls wished they had. She seemed to have the demeanor of a child, but it somehow complemented her. From the looks of it, Shido had won her heart completely judging how she appeared to care for the oldest Itsuka sibling. This actually impressed Minato.

Without warning, the dark-haired girl then grabbed Minato by his blazer and viciously shook him back and forth, repeatedly.

"REMEMBER. ME. SHIDO!" She shouted with emphasis, legitimately worried that Shido had forgotten about her.

"I. Am. Not. Shido!" Minato responded, albeit a tad dizzily.

"Liar! You have blue hair like he does!" The girl retorted, finally releasing Minato's blazer.

"Alright, but does he have gray eyes like mine?" Minato countered while fixing his uniform.

The girl stared at him with a lot of focus, trying to tell the difference between him and Shido. A short amount of time passed before she suddenly gasped and pointed at him.

"N-No. Your eyes are... different than his."

"Do you see now? I'm not Shido, but I do know him. My name is Arisato Minato. It's nice to meet you," Minato introduced himself almost bluntly. At last, this girl was realizing her mistake.

"O-Oh... I'm sorry. I'm Yatogami Tohka," the girl revealed to be called Tohka said with slight shame.

"It's okay, Yatogami-san. I forgive you. I can see why you were confused. Shido and I both have blue hair, I suppose. Let's just start fresh, alright?" Minato asked, willing to overlook their recent debate.

"Start... fresh?" Tohka questioned, wondering what Minato meant by those words. "You mean, like food?"

"Ano... Not exactly," Minato said with confusion. "What I mean to say is—" Before he could finish what he wanted to say, another voice interrupted him.

"Oh! You two must be the new students!"

* * *

"Tobiichi-san... Could you let go of me? Please?" Shido requested kindly.

"Not until you promise me," Origami stated flatly.

Whisperings of the altercation were increasing in the classroom by the second, much to Shido's dismay.

"Is the genius dating Itsuka?"

"Dear Kami! Is that true?"

"I never thought she would be interested in someone like him."

"There has to be some ulterior motive."

_'This is bad...' _Shido brooded. _'Please... Someone...'_

"Goooood morning evvvveryone!" A lady with a small build and thin-framed glasses walked into the classroom with a cheerful expression on her face. Her name was Okamine Tamae; she was the teacher for Class 4. Many students called her by her nickname, Tama-chan, because of her childish face. She walked over to the desk in the front of the room. "Homeroom is starting! Hmm? Tobiichi-san, what are you doing?" Tamae noticed Origami holding Shido's necktie.

"..." Origami silently flashed a quick glance at her teacher and then released Shido's necktie and returned to her seat, which was to Shido's right.

_'Thank you, Sensei,'_ Shido internally thanked as he adjusted himself in his seat.

"O-Okay, is everybody settled in?" Tamae asked, trying to alleviate her class's unrest that she sensed. Then she hit her hand, as if she remembered something. "Oh, right! Before we take attendance, I have two surprises! Come in!" Saying this, she called towards the door she entered not too long ago.

"Mhm."

"Right."

Two voices responded back.

"Wha..."

"...!"

Shido's and Origami's jaws dropped simultaneously. A girl with long dark purple hair in a ponytail entered the classroom, wearing the female Raizen High School uniform along with a familiar blue-haired teen with gray eyes. They both stood at the front of the room to face the class.

"I am transferring into this class today. My name is Yatogami Tohka! Pleased to be in your care," the girl said with a huge smile on her face.

"And I'm Arisato Minato. Pleased to make your acquaintances," the boy said with a small smile, raising a hand in greeting.

Once again, the entire class went into an uproar. An impossibly beautiful girl AND a bishōnen boy were transferring in? The guys couldn't take their eyes off of Tohka; they were panting like dogs. The same thing applied to Minato as the girls were beginning to drool just by looking at him.

Ignoring the various gazes, both Minato and Tohka wrote their names on the chalkboard with chalk, although Tohka only wrote her first name. She then gave a satisfying nod to herself.

Shido was staring with widened eyes at Tohka. "Wh... you... Why are you..."

"Huh?" Tohka turned her head to face the source of the voice. Her eyes had stars in them. "Ohh, Shido! I missed you!" She hopped over to right beside Shido. And again, Shido was the main focus of the class.

"She must really like you, Shido." Minato walked over to where Shido sat too, his hands in his pockets. "Before we came in, Yatogami-san thought I was you until I convinced her I wasn't. She's a very cheerful person, don't you think so?"

"Minato looked a lot like you, Shido! I was very surprised!" Tohka exclaimed. "Are you two brothers!?"

Shido was sweating profusely at the attention he was getting. Murmurs were heard all around the classroom. He then whispered in a small voice that only he and Tohka could hear. "T-Tohka...? Why are you here?"

"The examinations and stuff are finished," Tohka whispered back. "They said that 99% of my power had vanished. Anyway, everything seemed to end well. Now I can't cause the world to experience pain just by existing anymore!" Shido briefly smiled but then he shook his head.

"And your family name?"

"That, uhh, sleepy person gave it to me," Tohka replied.

"Geez..." Shido scratched the back of his head and sighed. He was glad that he could see Tohka now and that she was allowed to be free, but there were other things to be concerned with.

"Is there something wrong, Shido?" Minato asked.

"Yeah, is there? Ahh, could it be, were you lonely when I was gone?" Tohka asked aloud. Then the commotion in the classroom had reached its climax. Feeling more uncomfortable then ever, Shido somehow managed to get his voice out.

"What? ...Don't say something weird like that."

Tohka pouted. "Hmph. How cold. Even though you were chasing me wildly back then." She crossed her arms with a faint blush on her face. Shido immediately felt shivers down his spine. The students were becoming even more agitated than before. At this rate, everyone will know Shido's name by the time school is over. Minato acknowledged what must have been on everyone's minds.

"N-No, Tohka!" Shido stuttered. "S-Saying it like that will cause everyone to misunderstand!"

Tohka tilted her head.

"What? Are you saying that it was a misunderstanding? Even though it was my first time..."

And then everyone's agitation reached its peak. Minato simply rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, Tohka moved her face to the right. "Eh?" In front of Shido's and Minato's eyes, something that seemed like a pen sliced horizontally through the air at an incredible speed. Before it could make contact with anything, it was instantly caught.

The pen was caught by none other than Arisato Minato.

Looking for its source, he saw Origami in a posture as if she had just thrown the pen with widened eyes.

Shido's jaw dropped.

Minato smiled for a moment but then frowned. Why would Origami do something like that?

"...Huh?"

"..." Origami then focused on Tohka. Their eyes crossed.

"You... Why are you here?" Tohka questioned, almost threateningly.

"That is my line," Origami retorted in her monotonous tone. Everyone could just feel the tension between them.

_'Ah. A rivalry,'_ Minato assumed.

Shido clutched his head. "Oh no..."

"O-Okay! Stop it! Let's end this now! Okay? Don't fight!" Tamae hurriedly cut between the two girls and somehow managed to diffuse the situation. She cleared her throat. "We need to find available seats for our new students. Let's see... Arisato-san's seat will be... in front of Itsuka-san!" She pointed to the empty desk in front of Shido.

Minato shrugged and took the seat in front of Shido, placing an arm on Shido's desk before returning Origami her pen. "Girl troubles, Shido?" Minato asked. Shido nodded his head, still clutching it. "Maybe I can help you a little. I know I lost my memories, but that doesn't mean I lost my charm as well," he added, though his tone didn't have a hint of boasting. Many girls in the class then gazed at Minato with sparkles in their eyes.

Shido perked up a little. "Really?"

Minato smiled. "What are best friends for, right?"

Shido felt better now. Maybe Minato can help him deal with girls! It sounded better than playing a dating sim program! He felt pathetic when he had to play through one.

"Now, let's see." Tamae was trying to find a spot for Tohka now. "Yatogami-san's seat will be_—_"

Tohka approached a girl who was sitting to Shido's left.

"Found one!" She exclaimed happily. She gave a scary glare at the girl. "Move," she commanded.

"Eeeeek!" Faced with that pressure, the female student fell down from her chair, fainting on the floor.

"Thank you!" Tohka calmly sat down and looked towards Shido. But in doing so, she also met Origami's gaze.

"..."

"..."

The two of them silently glared at each other.

Showered with strange looks from both sides, Shido held his head once more. Minato faintly smiled at the situation.

_'This is gonna be a fun year. I can feel it! ...Where have I heard that before?'_

* * *

**A/N:** Allow me to say welcome to the first Date A Live and Persona 3 crossover! This idea was a story idea given by Angel of light darkness that I found interesting! Thanks for the idea by the way! This idea really got my attention! There are only a few Persona crossovers I've seen that really click. Here's to hoping that this will add on to the pile!

This is the second story I've posted on the site. Ghost in the Machine (Sword Art Online x Persona 3) was my first!

Thanks for reading! Reviews are very much appreciated! I'm not asking for follows and favorites because that'll make me sound greedy, and I don't like that. It's totally up to you readers if you want to read the story!


	2. With Friends Like These

**Chapter 2: With Friends Like These**

* * *

_"We are friends, aren't we?" — Takeba Yukari_

* * *

**Somewhere in Tengu City**

* * *

"...It has been a month. He has yet to disappear and reappear like the others. No spacequakes have occurred in this timespan that were located in Japan."

"But we can confirm that he is one of **them**?"

"Yes... We've detected vast amounts of Mana within him that has been heavily suppressed. His powers and abilities are unknown at this time."

"Hmph... We need to give him a reason to use his powers, otherwise we're unable to perform a full analysis on him. Maybe we can pit him against _those_ girls?"

"That is a viable hypothesis."

"Then that will be the plan, everyone!"

* * *

**Elsewhere**

* * *

"We need to pick up our pace, Shido," Minato plainly said while running alongside Shido.

"I know!" Shido responded back, panting.

The blue-haired teens were running through Tengu City in order to get to school. There was a small problem, however. Due to some unforeseen circumstances in today's forecast, it was raining and the two boys were soaking wet because they didn't have umbrellas with them. Shido was running out of breath as he and Minato were dashing through the drizzle.

"Hang on. Let's stop here for a moment." Minato noticed his friend's fatigue and thought it was best to rest before continuing on. Shido silently agreed as the two entered the local shrine area that was to their right, trying to dry themselves off. Their wet uniforms were sticking to their bodies. It felt very unpleasant. Shido let out an annoyed groan.

"The forecast has been wrong a lot, recently. They said there was only a 10% chance of rain," Shido noted. The supposedly spiteful weather forecaster made a number of recent predictions that had been very inaccurate as of late. The past few days in Tengu City had seen rain instead of sunshine. "Remind me why we didn't decide to bring umbrellas?" He asked Minato. The other bluenette simply shrugged.

"Must have slipped our minds, I guess. Although the weather forecast said there was a 10% chance of rain, it's still a chance. Just not a very big one." Shido couldn't argue with that logic. It was 100% ironclad.

Minato gazed at his surroundings, taking in the sights of the shrine and the city. "You know, I'm starting to get the hang of things now. I can finally navigate my way through Tengu City easily, even though it's pretty large. It still kind of bothers me that we don't take a bus or a train to Raizen High because it's kind of far from your place. The thirty minute exercise is nice, though." It didn't take too long for Minato to learn the city's layout with Shido's and Kotori's help, and he wasn't winded by the daily exercise of going to school.

Shido was initially baffled by Minato's aptitude of adjusting to new situations despite Minato being an amnesiac. Shido concluded that it was instinctive for humans to adapt to new experiences; Minato was simply taking the initiative far too well.

"Ready to go?" Minato questioned after some minutes had went by. Shido nodded, and the two were about to leave when they heard a loud splash nearby.

They both turned around and saw a little girl whose face they couldn't see clearly. She was wearing a green hoodie that had rabbit ears which covered her head, and it seemed like she was skipping on the puddles. On her left hand was a funny-looking, rabbit-shaped puppet. The girl suddenly tripped and fell onto the rain puddle beneath her. The rabbit puppet on her left hand slipped off and flew forward.

"H-Hey!" Shido called out. Both he and Minato ran towards the fallen girl. Shido helped her up to the point in which she could crouch. Her now visible face revealed that she had light blue hair and eyes. "Thank goodness. Are you okay?" He asked with concern.

The little girl looked at the blue-haired duo in front of her and her eyes widened. She immediately retreated backwards to the tree behind her, leaving Shido slightly dumbfounded. Minato cautiously eyed the girl. "Ano..."

"Please... don't touch me." The girl spoke with a meek tone. Shido's jaw dropped slightly. Minato easily read his expression. Did he think that she thought that they were lolicons? "Please... don't hurt me."

Minato and Shido stared at her with worried expressions on their faces. Were they really that intimidating? Was she frightened of boys, or people in general?

The more quiet one of the bluenette duo blinked a couple of times and then poked his friend. "Hey. We need to leave pretty soon, Shido," he pointed out. If they kept this up, they were surely going to be late for school today. And Minato did not want to deal with possible consequences like detention or cleaning after school. Then again, Okamine-sensei was not that type of person. All she would probably do was scold them a little.

Shido turned to Minato. "But... what about... huh?" Shido looked back to where the girl was cowering in fear, only to find that she wasn't there anymore. Her rabbit puppet was gone as well. He surveyed the area and found no signs of her. "Where did she..." Did she teleport or disappear into thin air? Minato was curious about the girl also, but there was something they needed to do for the time being. He placed a hand on one of Shido's shoulders.

"Let's get going already. For now, let's not worry about her. She probably went to school or back home. Her and arriving at school late will be the least of our... Achoo!" Minato sneezed without warning. He began to feel sick from the overexposure of rain that pelted his body continuously. "...Worries at this rate if we keep standing here."

Shido hesitantly acceded but gave one more worrying glance around the shrine area. The two then proceeded to leave for school.

* * *

**A Few Hours Later**

* * *

_"In the light men're crossing over lone shadows—"_

"Arisato-san! Try these!"

_"Wearing veiled slight hopes of intimacy—"_

"No, don't try hers! Taste mine!"

_"Want to be close—"_

"He doesn't want yours! Arisato-kun wants the ones I have!"

_"To be close..."_

Minato was gazing outside through a window. The rain was still pouring from the skies. He was wondering if it was ever going to stop. Minato was also listening to a song from his mp3 player, _Want To Be Close_, in an attempt to drown out the voices of the girls that ringed around him and his desk. They were trying to get his attention, but to no avail, they couldn't. It was humorously ironic.

Today at Raizen High School, the female students had their home economics class. Many girls from his class and other classes made various types of food just for the silent blue-haired boy. His selection ranged from cookies to cupcakes to even _slices of __cake_. With his large appetite and generous personality, Minato kindly accepted his female classmates' food. Luckily, everything he ate was tasty and edible to which he commented on. The girls squealed with delight and the guys of Class 4 glared daggers at Minato.

It had only been a month since he enrolled into Raizen High School, but Minato, plus Shido, unintentionally created quite a reputation for themselves. Every student in the school knew who the blue-haired duo were.

Soon after transferring in, Minato was known for his stoic personality and quietness. He didn't usually speak unless he was spoken to by someone, although he would converse with Shido often. Even without Kotori's constant pestering, the two became fast friends. They both shared healthy interests in cooking and their personalities complemented each other. Minato was the composed, aloof one of the duo while Shido was the spastic, sensitive one. The two bluenettes were both bishōnens as well. Except, Minato was more apparent of it and was continually hounded by his female classmates, much to his chagrin. When he wasn't spending time with Shido, the fangirls that were attracted to him made many attempts to get close to him. Despite the fact that he was slightly annoyed by their efforts, he couldn't outright admit it to them. He would have felt bad for hurting their feelings. He would conjure up believable excuses so his fangirls would leave him alone, though.

On the other hand, Shido had two of the most popular girls in his year vying for his attention. Tobiichi Origami was already famous for her excellence in terms of grades and athletics, on top of being a beauty, too. She made it clear to Shido and everyone, mainly Tohka, that she's Shido's girlfriend. Yatogami Tohka, as described by Shido himself, was "an impossibly beautiful girl" who was very fond of Shido. She loved to spend time with him whenever possible, but her "Shido Time" was usually thwarted by Origami and vice versa.

Tohka and Origami would engage in heated arguments about who Shido preferred over something like personality or actions. Before the tension between the two could escalate, Shido would hastily come between them so that they both stop, attempting to avoid any more drama. It was pretty amusing for Minato as he would watch the daily feuds with a small smile. The only advice Minato could offer to Shido was to either let Origami and Tohka settle their arguments through their own means somehow, or stop the two before they get more serious. Even the music-loving, blue-haired kuudere didn't know how to handle situations like those.

Taking off his headphones, Minato cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of the girls who were bickering around him. "I'm sorry, girls, but I'm feeling sort of tired today. You know, homework and stuff. I appreciate what you all did for me, but can I be left alone for now? I have some things to think about." The girls nodded in understanding and in unison, not asking any questions, and left their food with Minato. Hooray. Where was a doggy bag when he needed one? He decided he would just eat some now. He didn't feel exhausted at all, but he felt like doing something else. Something that wouldn't make him shoot himself in the head with his Evoker. Hanging out with his best friend was out of the question. The teen was taking a nap on his desk, and Minato didn't want to disrupt his napping. He was about to put on his headphones again when...

"Shido!" A cheerful voice shouted from outside the classroom, promptly awakening the boy whose name was called as he shot up from his seat and stood on his feet, initially swaying side to side unsteadily. The classroom's door slid open, revealing Yatogami Tohka wearing an apron over her school uniform. She held a container in her hands that was filled with what appeared to be cookies, each of them showing a different face of emotion. Some even appeared to be shaped like gingerbread men!

Tohka skipped happily over to Shido's desk with a beaming smile and placed her tray of cookies right in front of Shido. "I made these things called cookies! Everyone in cooking class helped me make them, and this is the result! Please try them!"

Shido felt a cold breeze blow across his back. It wasn't caused by Tohka's cookies. It was actually caused by glares of resentment from the male students of Class 4. It wasn't entirely unreasonable. The fact that Shido and Minato were able to enjoy girls' cooking made them targets of jealousy by their fellow male classmates. Minato was capable of brushing off the resentment directed towards him. It wasn't hard. Should a guy get real bitchy about Minato and Shido hogging all the attention, Minato would simply stare at them with a scarily blank expression. It was more than enough to get hostile guys to back off.

Sadly, Shido didn't have that type of confidence or poker face that Minato used on a regular basis, so most of the guys targeted him instead.

"Ano..." Shido's eyebrow twitched.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Shido? You're not going to eat?" Tohka asked curiously, tilting her head cutely.

"I... Err... About that..." Shido tried to speak with a nervous twitch in his cheek. Tohka's shoulders began drooping little by little.

"Oh... I see... You probably think my cooking isn't good..." Tohka mumbled dejectedly, the red ribbon that tied her hair into a ponytail deflating as she talked.

"What! No! I would never think of that, Tohka! I bet they're really good!" Shido proclaimed, his voice filled with determination. Seeing her sad again made his heart ache. Tohka perked up with stars in her eyes. Shido made up his mind and grabbed one of Tohka's cookies from her container. He slowly lifted it to his mou_—_

"Tch." As Shido was about to consume the cookie, Minato saw out of the corner of his eye a silver blur that flew directly towards the cookie from the hallway. Acting on pure instinct, he caught the object between his index and middle finger. The thrown projectile turned out to be a fork. Shido's and Tohka's eyes widened in shock as Minato held the fork in front of them.

"Wha-What!?" Shido panicked.

"What, who did that? That could have hurt Shido or Minato!" Tohka exclaimed. She did care for the two bluenettes. She saw Shido as someone really special, but she also did see Minato as a friend.

During the past month, Minato became fond of Tohka's company because she was so incredibly bubbly that it was contagious. How can anyone be that cheerful? Tohka felt that, other than Shido, she could open up to Minato. She wasn't sure why, but she had a feeling that Minato understood her, despite not ever telling him that she was a Spirit.

Tohka and Minato did find that they had one thing in common: They were both gluttons. No one was capable of keeping up with them when it came to eating. Nearly everyone, fellow students and other people who happened to see Minato and Tohka dine, couldn't fathom how the two could consume so much and maintain their thin figures.

Over time, Tohka kept insisting that Minato should address her by her first name because she liked it better that way. Eventually, he submitted after she repeatedly pestered him on a daily basis.

Minato turned his head towards the supposed origin of where the fork was shot from as Tohka and Shido did the same. At the door from where Tohka entered earlier stood Tobiichi Origami in a posture as if she had just thrown something a few seconds ago, with her right hand stretched out. Her bandages were now gone, signaling that she recovered from whatever injuries she had before.

The white-haired girl had no expression on her face like always, but she then glanced at Minato with her eyebrows furrowed. How was he able to intercept her thrown projectiles not once, but twice? No one was able to do that, not even her AST teammates!

Minato inspected the fork between his fingers for a brief moment before using it to eat a part of the slice of a blueberry cake one of his fangirls made for him earlier. The taste of it made Minato smile softly. Having swallowed that piece of cake, Minato began to speak with a frown.

"Really. Again, Tobiichi-san?" He said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I can deal with your little spats between you and Tohka, but attempting to destroy perfectly good food is unacceptable." When it came to food, Minato was rather defensive. It was understandable. Wasting food in a way Origami attempted to do ticked Minato off. There were three good ways to make him upset. One was hurting his friends in one way or another. The second way disrupting his music time, but there were exceptions if the reasons were legit. The third and final way was wasting food.

Unless of course, the food wasn't edible. _'Her cookies look fine to me...' _Minato internally assumed, glimpsing at Tohka's cookies again for a second. Her cookies looked normal, but appearances weren't everything. It all came down to taste, something that Shido had the pleasure of doing, perhaps.

Origami narrowed her eyes slightly when Minato regarded Tohka by her first name, but no one noticed it. Her friendship with Minato was an odd one. They didn't have much to talk to each other than saying their greetings and farewells, or asking each other for assistance on their homework. The majority of Raizen High found out that Minato's intellect was equipotential to Origami's in the past month. The same went for his athletic abilities, despite Minato not joining any sports teams. It was as if he was a male version of Origami. Those two features made his fangirls gush over him even more, much to Minato's unnoticeable dismay.

Minato aimed to have Origami open up a bit so that they could establish a healthy relationship, but the only thing that she was really willing to talk about was Shido, describing his physical aspects or what he did in recent days. Minato believed that her obsession with Shido was borderline yandere. It's nice that Origami was being protective of her "boyfriend," but it was creepy nonetheless. Shido also once mentioned that Origami apparently sniffed his gym clothes and that she stalked him from a distance; all of which made Minato confirm his beliefs with a sigh.

Holding a container of her own with her left hand, Origami approached Tohka and the blue-haired teens while looking at the three of them. She stopped in front of Shido and placed the container on his desk and lifted the lid. "You don't have to put Yatogami Tohka's _thing_ in your mouth. If you are going to eat something, then eat this." Inside the container were perfect cookies that were uniform in shape and were neatly lined up. They looked like products that came straight from a factory line. "If you want cookies, I have baked some for you."

"Errrr..." Shido sweatdropped. Minato smiled softly, impressed by the display.

"Wow. They look remarkable and tasty, Tobiichi-san. Shido's a lucky guy." Origami silently took note of Minato's praise. Shido began to sweat profusely. Another fight was about to commence shortly, and the two bluenettes knew it.

Tohka glared at Origami. "Don't copy me!" She snarled. Origami turned to Tohka.

"I actually completed mine before you," Origami calmly stated.

"Sh-Shut up! There's no way your cookies would ever taste nice." Tohka then picked up one of Origami's cookies and ate it to confirm her theory.

"Oooooooohhhh..." Tohka's cheeks then blushed with a color akin to cherry blossoms as her face displayed an ecstatic expression. It seemed that the cookie tasted heavenly. Tohka instantly snapped out of her trance and shook her head. "Th-They aren't anything special! If your cookie is like that, then mine is more delicious! Shido, just hurry up and eat my cookies!" Tohka then held up her container of cookies in front of Shido.

"You should eat mine," Origami stated while doing the same thing as Tohka. The two girls both had glints in their eyes that could pierce and pin down an enemy, and as they stared at Shido, a sweatdrop began to flow down his cheek. Ignoring most of the deathly glares from his male classmates while also receiving a silent nod from Minato, Shido took a cookie out of each container and ate them simultaneously.

"Mhmm... They're both delicious," he said truthfully and nervously. Tohka fist-pumped.

"He ate mine a little faster," Tohka proclaimed boastfully to Origami.

"He ate mine earlier by 0.02 seconds," Origami calmly replied.

"What did you say!?" Tohka shouted. Minato and Shido sighed and facepalmed simultaneously. There just didn't seem to be an end to this.

* * *

**A Few More Hours Later**

* * *

Minato was on his way back to the Itsuka residence after school ended for the day. The rain had yet to subside in Tengu City, so he had to run. He unfortunately found out that he didn't have any change for a bus or train ride. He made a mental note to himself for later to actually get a job. Perhaps one at a café. It sounded like it would be beneficial in more ways than one.

Shido originally wanted to go home with him, but Origami made Shido stay behind at Raizen High to taste more of her food that she somehow cooked very quickly within two hours. She wanted to prove that she was a far better cook than Tohka. Shido pleaded for Minato to save him as he was getting dragged away by Origami. Minato merely stared at Shido while he had his headphones on, and then he walked in the opposite direction, leaving Shido to his fate.

_'Sorry, my friend, but you're going to have to go at it alone.' _The unfortunate, pleading teen had to learn to deal with girls, especially since he had a so-called girlfriend, Minato thought to himself.

"I wonder if it's possible for that weather forecaster to get struck by lightning." Minato was incredibly annoyed by the fact that he didn't have an umbrella with him. Every part of him was drenched, save for his mp3 and headphones that he stored in his pockets. At least the rain didn't mess his hair up a whole lot. "Come on. I'm almost there. Once I'm back, I'm going to take a nice, long shower. And then I'll eat some ramen... Or something else..." Minato murmured, crossing his arms while approaching the arcade. He was in deep thought, trying to decide what he would eat later. There were so many choices.

Because of that, he nearly failed noticing the girl who just walked out of the arcade and was currently in his path.

At the last possible moment, Minato slid to a screeching halt, almost colliding with that girl. Luckily, he didn't get her drenched with rain water. Had he not noticed her sooner, he could have knocked her down and she could have been injured. Minato did not want to see such a sight.

"Sorry, Miss. I wasn't looking where I was going," Minato apologized. "I'm in a bit of a rush, you see." The blue-haired boy then took note of the girl's appearance. This person had long, black hair tied into ponytails that just happened to rest on her shoulders, and she was wearing a black Gothic dress. The left side of her face was covered by her abnormally long bangs, but the right side revealed her right eye to be red. Honestly, Minato wasn't one to talk about hairstyle since his was practically a mirror when comparing it to this girl's.

This girl was also... smiling at Minato?

"Ara, ara, what do I have here?" The girl's visible right eye met Minato's left gray eye. She spoke with curiosity in somewhat of a teasing tone, similar to how a succubus would speak. Minato had to admit, she was easily one of the most beautiful girls he had ever laid eyes on. She was emanating astonishing beauty.

Appearances did not make a person, however. Personality was also a factor to consider, something Minato took into account.

The girl scanned Minato's figure up and down before she giggled lightly, sounding as if she was satisfied. "Ara, you're more impressive in person, Minato-san."

...Wait. What?

"How do you my name, Miss?" Minato asked calmly with his head tilted. He was suspicious of the stranger who somehow knew his first name. He had never seen her before. He was sure of it.

"Hmm... It was a lucky guess, I suppose?" She replied smoothly, resting her pointer finger on her face.

Minato wasn't convinced. A lucky guess? Yeah, right. The chances of her correctly guessing Minato's name were ridiculously slim. Her response did dismiss his suspicions of the two meeting prior to his memory loss.

The bluenette shrugged off the mysterious girl's probable lie. He really couldn't care less. It was likely that she was a stalker of his that he never knew about. Sure, he had admirers, but Minato never imagined that he had a stalker. As long as she didn't attempt to do anything to him, he would let it slide. What could a girl such as the one standing in front of him do to Minato, anyway? Besides, he had to head back to the Itsuka residence. A good shower and dinner were waiting for him.

"Interesting..." Minato said after mulling over his thoughts, still maintaining his poker face throughout the entire conversation. He believed now would be the best time to end the awkward conversation while he had the chance. "Well, I have to get going now. Don't stay out too long in the rain because you could catch a cold. It was nice meeting you, Miss..." He trailed off, expecting the girl to finish his sentence by stating her name.

"Tokisaki Kurumi," the girl finished, revealing her identity. A faint blush appeared on her face. Kurumi then gave a shy smile. "It was nice meeting you as well, Minato-san." Minato nodded in response.

"Sayonara, Tokisaki-san." Minato raised his hand and waved goodbye as Kurumi did the same. He proceeded to return home, running past Kurumi in the process. Kurumi remained standing at her position as she watched Minato progressively getting farther and farther away from her with each passing second. Another faint blush developed on her face. She placed her hand on her cheek and sighed in ecstasy.

"Ara, ara. What a man. I can hardly contain myself. So respectful. So mysterious. So delicious," Kurumi said to herself, licking her lips in euphoria. Just thinking of the stoic, blue-haired boy made her very excited.

"You will be _mine_, Arisato Minato."

* * *

**The Next Day**

* * *

"Kotori, I'm home." Minato returned to the Itsuka residence. School was over for the day. Thank goodness, too. He was getting real sick of his fangirls swarming him. It was very uncomfortable. By tomorrow, he really needed a plan. Minato took off his school blazer and slung it over his shoulder while walking towards the living room. Kotori typically stayed in there most of the time. She loved to watch television more often than the two blue-haired boys who stayed in the same house as her. Sure enough, the petite redhead with pigtails was on the couch, watching an anime as she was sucking on a lollipop. It was an anime that involved zombies, apparently. Kotori turned her head and smiled happily at Minato.

"Oh! Welcome back, Minato-kun!" Kotori eventually became more comfortable with Minato over the past month. She was beginning to see Minato as another older brother. He was more stern than Shido when it came to discipline, usually only when Kotori wanted to eat sweets rather than actual food because he believed in moderate nutrition. She found out the hard way what it meant to disobey Minato.

One time was too much for her. She still had nightmares of it. She thought it was for the best that she wouldn't defy Minato EVER again.

"Where's Onii-chan?" She wondered as she noticed that Shido wasn't with Minato.

"Tobiichi-san," Minato answered simply, rolling his eyes at Shido's situation. He couldn't tell if he should pity or scorn Shido for having a caring girlfriend who was devoted to making him happy.

"Ah." Kotori nodded in understanding.

"Minato?" A familiar voice inquired, sounding muffled at the same time. The blue-haired teen's gaze went to the kitchen area and found Yatogami Tohka sitting at the dining room table, eating what appeared to be soy flour bread. There were tons of bags filled with them on the table. Minato could have sworn that the Itsukas didn't have that many the last time he checked the food supply not too long ago. He also knew he didn't purchase too many, either. Where did the bread come from? Surely Tohka didn't carry all of them with her on the way here.

"Oh, hello, Tohka. What are you doing here?" Minato asked, ignoring the vast amounts of bread.

"Me? What are you doing here?" Tohka repeated his words, still eating some soy flour bread.

"Well, this is where I live," Minato stated.

"Really?! So do I!" Tohka cheered.

Minato blinked. "...Huh?"

"She will be staying with us for the time being, Minato-kun!" Kotori chimed in enthusiastically. Another person was going to stay with them? Granted, there was one last room that Tokha could stay in, which was next to Shido's room, but what was the reason? Did Tohka just wanted to stay closer to Shido, or was there another reason?

"Alright. The more the merrier I suppose. Welcome to our humble abode, Tohka," Minato said with a smile that was larger than usual, shrugging his shoulders at the same time. He didn't mind another person living with him and the Itsukas. He also didn't want to interfere in Tohka's business. It all sounded personal to him. "Oh, by the way, Shido will be back soon. He had some... unfinished business to take care of." Minato inwardly laughed. Tohka gave a nod while swallowing another loaf of soy flour bread.

"Okay! ...Oh?" Tohka began sniffing the air. She did this repeatedly until she sniffed her underarm. She then stuck her tongue out in disgust. "Blegh! I smell bad."

"You can use the shower then, Tohka-san. You are living here after all." Unlike yesterday, Minato brought an umbrella with him because it rained today like it did in the past week, so he wasn't really eager to use the shower now. He also believed in the "ladies first" policy. Minato gestured for Tohka to follow him to the bathroom and then placed his hands in his pockets. Tohka swallowed yet another loaf of bread and then started walking behind Minato. They walked for a bit through the house and up the stairs and the blue-haired boy yawned along the way. He felt tired today. A minute later, they stopped in front of the bathroom's door.

"Is this is it, Minato?" Tohka pointed to the door. Minato gave her a thumbs up.

"Yes it is, Tohka. Enjoy. I'm going to take a small nap, so I'll see you, Shido, and Kotori in a few hours, alright?" Minato yawned again.

"Okay!" Tohka smiled and entered the bathroom. Minato went to his room and surveyed it when he entered. He didn't have many things in there. There was a bed like Shido's, a desk with a laptop on it, a small flat screen TV set, and a small table on the floor. He only had and wanted the essentials. Minato tossed his school jacket to the side of his bed and lied down on his bed. He stared at the ceiling of his room before closing his eyes.

Ah. It was so peaceful...

"I'm home!" A voice bellowed from downstairs. Without opening his eyes, Minato could tell whose voice that was. Shido just came back. He came back earlier than yesterday. Yesterday, he brought home four containers of cookies that Origami made. They were all tasty! "Kotori, Minato, I'm gonna take a shower."

_'A shower, huh?'_ Minato thought. _'...Wait. Isn't Tohka in there right no_—'__

"GET OUT!" Tohka's voice yelled. A loud, punching noise soon followed.

"WAH!" Shido cried.

And then there was silence.

_'...Oh well. Too bad for you, Shido. Time to sleep...'_

* * *

**The Next Day**

* * *

"I didn't ask you this yesterday, Shido, but how do you feel about Tohka li_—_"

"SHHHHHHHHH!" Shido quickly covered Minato's mouth with his hand, preventing the teen from speaking further. Shido was sweating a bit again. Oh yeah. If the school was to learn that THE Yatogami Tohka was living with one of the memorable bluenettes, a whole lot of shit was going to go down. Minato grabbed Shido's wrist and lifted it.

"Sorry, Shido. I forgot that we were in school now," Minato apologized.

"It's alright, Minato," Shido said, accepting his friend's apology and dismissively waving his hand. "Anyway, it's time for lunch! Could you hand me my bento?"

"Here you go." Minato handed his friend his bento. Shido replied with a "thank you" as he grasped it. It was one of three the two prepared this morning. Each of the boxes went to Minato, Shido, and Tohka respectively. Minato opened up his own and lightly smiled. It looked really good. This was going to be deli—_  
_

"Shido, it's lunchtime!"

And there was what was missing from school today. Minato turned behind him and saw Tohka placing a desk next to Shido's to his left. To his right, Origami was doing the exact same thing.

Minato sighed. _'Here we go...'_

"What do _you _want?" Tohka asked her rival for Shido's affection, placing her hands on her hips and sounding annoyed. "Leave us alone."

"Right back at you," Origami answered monotonously. Panicking, Shido swiftly raised his arms between the two girls.

"Can't we _all_ eat lunch together?" Shido politely questioned. The two girls nodded with glares as they proceeded to sit down next to Shido. At the same time, Shido and Tohka opened their bento boxes. The contents were exactly the same. Origami instantly narrowed her eyes at the sight.

Minato palmed his face as Shido began to sweatdrop.

"What is it? Your little puppy eyes aren't going to make me give you any," Tohka scoffed at Origami, thinking that the white-haired girl wanted to eat her food.

"What is going on?" Origami asked in an almost threatening tone.

"W-Well..." Shido stuttered. Seeing as how Shido was going to lie, and he was horrible at lying, Minato decided to intervene.

"I made and gave the bento to them, Tobiichi-san," he calmly answered. Origami looked towards Minato, who looked reticent.

"Why?" She asked.

"It was to show Shido and Tohka my gratitude for being such good friends with me," Minato stated. He made up that lie on the spot. He did, however, feel that Shido and Tohka were great friends to have.

Origami looked down at her desk, her emotionless face not wavering in the slightest. She was kind of hurt that he didn't do anything for her. Sure, Minato was close to Shido and her adversary, but did they really had no friendship between them? As if fate was telling her no, Minato continued talking.

"Don't worry, Tobiichi-san, I haven't forgotten about you. I'll make you something special. After all, you were the one who basically saved me. Who knows what might have happened if you didn't find me like you did," Minato assured Origami. She lifted her head up, looking directly at Minato with slightly widened eyes.

Minato then glanced at Shido who was clasping his hands together and was silently saying "thank you" over and over again.

"...Thank you, Mina—"

**"The signature of a spacequake has been detected in the area. This is not a drill. Please evacuate immediately. The signature of a spacequake has been detected in the area. This is not a drill. Please evacuate immediately,"** a siren roared from outside.

"A spacequake?" Minato inquired with narrowed eyes. This was his first time experiencing the real deal. Shido and Origami confirmed his question with serious nods. The white-haired girl then stood up from her desk and advanced towards the back door of the classroom. Every other student in the classroom proceeded to do the same in an orderly fashion shortly after.

"Evacuate?" Tohka asked cluelessly.

* * *

"We're leaving Tohka behind?" Shido queried hesitantly. He was talking with a gray-haired woman who was probably in her late 20's or early 30's at the far end of the evacuation lines, standing a few feet away from Minato and Tohka. The calm blue-haired boy was busy explaining to the gluttonous girl where they would be going soon.

"Yeah. With her powers sealed, she is nothing more than a human girl," Murasame Reine, the physics teacher of Raizen High, stated. "Furthermore, we don't want to stress her to the ongoing battles between Spirits and the AST."

"I know, but..."

"Shin, bring Arisato Minato with you also."

"What!?" Shido said incredulously. "But he's just a normal human! He doesn't have anything to do with this! I'm not bringing him with me!"

"Kotori already placed an order on this, Shin. Bring him with you to confront the Spirit. There is another reason why he's going with you. It will take too long to explain, however. Just have him go with you," Reine insisted composedly.

"But..." Shido knew very well he couldn't go against his sister's orders, unless he wanted to face punishment. But this was Minato, his friend. A normal person. He didn't want him to get hurt. What was the point of bringing him along anyway?

"Hey, Itsuka-kun, Arisato-kun, and Yatogami-san! Murasame-sensei, you too!" Okamine-sensei called out for the four who were currently at the end of the evacuation lines. She was heading towards them while panicking. "If you don't hurry to the shelter, you'll be in danger!" When Tamae reached the group, Shido gave her Tohka's hand.

"Sensei, I'll leave Tohka in your care," Shido said.

Minato raised an eyebrow. What was Shido doing? It didn't sound like he was coming with them at all.

"W-Well, of course I'll take care of her," Okamine-sensei answered with a hint of confusion in her voice. Tohka faced Shido, completely confused as to what he was doing.

"Shido?" Shido turned to Tohka.

"Tohka, I have something important to deal with. Please follow Sensei and the other students to the shelter," Shido ordered.

"B-But..." Tohka tried to voice out her concern.

"Where are you going, Shido?" Minato asked his best friend. He was curious as to what Shido was planning to do right now when a disaster was about to befall in the city.

"I don't have time to explain, Minato, but I need you to come with me." Shido held out his hand.

"But we need to evacuate," the blue-haired amnesiac serenely reasoned.

"Please, trust me, Minato." Shido pleaded. He sounded very serious. Usually, Shido was never this serious.

"...Fine," Minato complied. "But no hand-holding." Shido smirked in response. Considering the predicament everyone was in, Minato, on a whim, decided to trust his friend. He was still very unsure of what his friend was going to do, but he had a gut feeling that Shido _knew_ exactly what he was doing, though. In any case, if worse came to worse, Minato could use one of his Personas for a Trafuri that would hopefully teleport the two out of the spacequake's blast radius. He never attempted to use a Trafuri during his stay with the Itsukas, so it was more so a last resort. He had kept his Evoker in one of his pockets during the past month in case of some emergency like a spacequake. It was sort of surprising how easy he got away with it, too.

"Shido? Minato?" Tohka looked at the two blue-haired teens with uncertainty. She felt left out.

"We'll be fine, Tohka," Shido assured her. Minato nodded. "Later!" The blue-haired teens then ran in the opposite direction of the evacuation lines along with Murasame Reine.

"Eh!? Itsuka-kun, Arisato-kun, Murasame-sensei!" Okamine-sensei called out. "Where are you three going!?"

Tohka held a hand to her chest. A sad look appeared on her face.

"Shido... Minato..."

* * *

**Next: Chapter Three: One of a Kind**

**Preview:**

"_Shido..._"

"Ohohoho!"

"What is this...?"

"Is he...?"

"None of that will work on me."

"No... Stay away from me! Get away!"

"Give up."

"It seems as though we're dealing with something the likes of which we've never seen before."

"Persona!"

* * *

**A/N:** Before I say anything about the story, let me re-introduce myself. I now go by the name of Sorata Shioya! I felt the need to change my pen name. Shadow Arisato just sounded... unoriginal to me. *shrugs*

So... how did you guys like the chapter? I liked it... Just wanted to show off some developing bonds. I even added Kurumi in for those of you who just absolutely love her. Heheheh...

Alright! So, Minato is now going with Shido to see Yoshino, although he doesn't know it yet! What will happen? Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter of The Divine Spirit!

To be PERFECTLY honest, I did _not_ think that this story was going to be this popular hahaha... I'm extremely glad that many of you guys like it so far! You all have my gratitude!

As always, thanks for reading and reviews are appreciated!

Also, I'm making another crossover story! It has Persona 3, but what is the other thing? Hmmm... Expect something around the beginning of May!

Reviewers:

**hack. salvation:** OOC? Minato's practically a heroic mime. He's a character that can be molded. I'm not completely going by the manga version of him. I am borrowing his traits however.

**Redmoon2:** Minato will be one of the main characters! Yay!

**Seeker213:** I will say this now: No Date A Live character will have Personas.

**will:** Sorry, but not this chapter... NEXT CHAPTER WILL, THOUGH!

**One of the Guests:** Maybe... *looks away*


	3. One of a Kind

**Chapter 3: One of a Kind**

* * *

_"I honestly don't know what kind of being I am." — Yatogami Tohka_

* * *

"This is... different."

Minato placed the palm of his hand on his cheek, attempting to figure out what just happened.

After departing from Tohka and everyone else from Raizen High, Minato, Shido, and Reine made their way to the entrance of the school and exited through the front doors. At first, Minato was very skeptical because it was obviously dangerous and idiotic to go outside when a spacequake was about to dive-bomb into who knows where in Tengu City.

He couldn't voice out his opinions because he didn't even have the chance. The moment Minato looked up at the monotonous, cloudy sky, he found himself in an alternate location along with Shido and Reine.

The two high school students and their physics sensei were presently in a round room that appeared to be quite futuristic. The floor was glowing bright yellow. The walls conveyed the impression that they were made out of the finest, adamant materials humanity could obtain. A bright blue light circulated around the room within the middle portions of the walls.

From the looks of things, Minato felt as if he was just raptured into a spaceship.

"Where are we?" The Persona-user queried as serenely as he could. He was puzzled about the unexpected and unknown situation he was in, but he kept a clear mind. Becoming distressed wouldn't help him. That didn't stop him from heightening his senses, though, in case of a potential trap.

"We are aboard Fraxinus," Reine answered in her typical tired tone. Having her as a teacher for the past month, Minato believed it was obvious to see that she was sleep-deprived. She would suddenly fall asleep in the middle of a lesson, and as time went on, it would become a daily occurrence. She also drank coffee with lots of sugar, but that didn't seem to help her whatsoever. Was there ever a time when she wasn't sleepy or sounded like it? Shido and Minato concluded one day that Reine had a very light version of narcolepsy.

Minato crossed his arms. His sensei's information was kind of vague. Although, one piece of it did provide some hint.

"'Aboard'? Are we inside a type of vehicle, then, Reine-san?"

"Good assumption. Fraxinus is an airship," Reine stated. Minato's eyes narrowed.

"An airship," he repeated flatly. The physics sensei nodded. "Is she serious, Shido?" Minato turned his head towards his right to check with his friend, wondering if he was believing their sensei's words.

Shido smiled wryly and made eye contact with Minato. "Reine-san is telling the truth, Minato. As far-fetched as this all sounds, we really are on an airship. Fifteen kilometers in the sky above Tengu City to be precise," he confirmed with no hesitation in his voice.

As soon as Shido finished talking and without warning, the room around the group vanished. The surroundings of Fraxinus disappeared, startling Minato as he was seemingly standing in mid-air as he saw a gray sky, the clouds progressively moving above him. He faced Shido and Reine, seeing the two not freaking out in the slightest. Minato glimpsed at the "floor" and noticed a metropolitan area that bared similarities to Tengu City's design far below him. Everything Shido and Reine said started to make sense. To test his theory that he was in Fraxinus still, he stomped his foot with most of his strength, receiving a metallic sound in response. Minato kept tapping his feet on the invisible floor until Fraxinus regained its appearance.

Minato processed what he had just witnessed. He pinched the bridge of his nose in minor vexation. Airships? Truthfully, he recognized that society today was more or less advanced in technology. He saw it firsthand in a spacequake evacuation drill a while ago. Buildings built like elevators, trains and monorails on train tracks, and cars on streets retracted into the earth for preservation matters. It made sense, though. Who'd really want to recreate all of that if they got decimated? If what Shido and Reine were saying was true, then why was there a need for airships? More importantly, why were they on one right now?

"I suppose I can't deny what you two are saying. I've no choice but to believe now." Minato sighed in defeat. "Though this isn't the strangest thing I've ever seen," he claimed offhandedly, glancing around at the seemingly sealed room that returned recently. Reine took note of her student's statement silently.

Shido wondered about Minato's last words. What could have been stranger than being on a freaking airship?! Just what kind of things did Minato see? Even with his personality, how's he taking everything he just learned in stride? Shido was about to ask Minato what he was referring to until Reine walked forward. The moment she was face-to-face with a wall, a door appeared, parting from left to right as it opened. She turned her head back to the blue-haired teens.

"This way, Minato, Shin." She motioned for them to come with her as she walked casually through the door and proceeded down a hallway.

A split second later, Shido facepalmed so loud that it echoed throughout the room. "Seriously? What the hell? His name has one more syllable and she can't even memorize mine right!?" Shido then continued to mutter angry, incoherent words to himself. Minato ignored his friend's small flare-up and began to follow Reine.

"Come on, Shido. Since it doesn't sound like this is your first time here, you probably know your way around Fraxinus better than I do," Minato called out.

Shido then snapped out of his thoughts and caught up to his friend as the two started to run next to each other.

* * *

"I want to verify something that's been bothering me, Shido," Minato said. The two were running down a very long corridor that did not seem to have an end.

"What is it?" Shido asked.

"Why are we here, in an airship, when a spacequake is out there? Your behavior now and earlier in that room are indicating that you may have knowledge about our situation," Minato pointed out. Shido laughed nervously. He felt like Origami was interrogating him at the moment. Her and Minato's observation skills were noticeably alike.

_'Just as you'd expect from one of the two super geniuses...'_ Shido mused. "Well... how do I explain this without sounding really ridiculous? I don't think you'll believe what I have to say..." He trailed off.

"Try me," Minato challenged.

Shido hesitated continuing. He then remembered that since he was ordered by Kotori to bring Minato with him to confront this newly emerged Spirit, he would probably have to explain everything to his friend anyway.

_'I might as well get it over with...' _"I have a mission," Shido announced.

"A mission?" Minato arched an eyebrow. Shido closed his eyes and took a deep breath before speaking again.

"I'm suppose to date these girls that have extraordinary powers and abilities. These girls are beings called Spirits. They're from an unknown dimension and the real reason spacequakes happen in the first place. Whenever they leave that dimension, they come to Earth and they create spacequakes. There are two factions that I know about that have their own ways of dealing with Spirits. One of them is the Anti-Spirit Team. They're a group of girls whose sole mission is to kill Spirits before more spacequakes can be triggered. The other is an organization called Ratatoskr. With their help, I have to make the Spirits fall in love with me. Apparently, I have the ability to seal their powers into me by kissing them once I reach a high enough level of intimacy with them. And Fraxinus, this airship, is actually Ratatoskr's command center."

Shido gasped for air and stopped running, placing a hand on a wall. Minato stopped as well. Running while explaining all of that winded Shido. While panting, he wondered what his fellow bluenette friend was thinking. Shido couldn't blame him for not believing. His story was pretty odd, like something straight out of an anime or manga. He would have thought the same had he not witnessed it all firsthand. He was anticipating a "That sounds ridiculous" retort or something along those lines from Minato.

Alternatively, Minato remained to be unfazed.

"Looks like you got your work cutout for you, Shido."

Shido blinked.

"Seriously? You actually believe me, Minato?"

"Well, for one thing, you're a horrible liar, Shido. I can easily tell when you fib. When you aren't lying, that means you're serious. You also had this determined look in your eyes while you spoke. This talk of 'Spirits' might sound hard to swallow, but hearing from you, I trust you," Minato said with an assuring smile, placing a hand on Shido's shoulder. "That, and I was willing to accept what you had to say when we were standing in mid-air. I mean, I pretty much have to at that point."

"...Thanks, Minato," Shido expressed his appreciation with a grin. He wasn't expecting to hear Minato's words of trust. He was relieved that he had him as a friend. Any other person would have labeled Shido as a delusional teenager with a hero and otherworldly female fixation, or a person with chuunibyou. He considered Minato, Tohka, Kotori, and even Origami to be close to him. Despite how eccentric they all were in their own ways, he enjoyed having them around. It was refreshing for him. "I'm kind of glad that Tobiichi brought you to my house. You really are one of a kind," he admitted.

* * *

_"Ya know, you really are one of a kind."_

* * *

"Huh?"

Minato thought he just heard a voice. A feminine one. Whoever that was, she sounded happy.

_'Was that... a memory? Who was that?'_

"Are you okay, Minato?" Shido's voice pierced his friend's thoughts. The teen in question glanced at Shido, who had a worried expression on his face.

"I'm fine, Shido," Minato replied instantly, but smoothly. "I just had an itch I had to scratch." He then proceeded to scratch his head with his hand, trying to play off the lie he created off the top of his head.

"If you say so," Shido said skeptically, deciding to concede to Minato's words. "Oh." It just occurred to him. Shido didn't mention that Tohka was a Spirit whose powers were sealed within him yet.

"What is it?" Minato wondered.

"You know Tohka, right?" Shido worded carefully. He immediately cursed himself mentally for asking such an evident question. Of course he knew her! The two gluttons saw and conversed with each other every single day!

Minato tilted his head slightly, uncertain of what Shido meant.

"Is this a trick question or something? She goes to our school, she's in our class, and she talks to us every single day. On top of all that, she's even living with us in the same house. I'd have to be completely apathetic for not knowing her," Minato said suspiciously, listing off the reasons why he should know her with his fingers.

Shido rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"I know, I know," Shido defended, his eyes darting towards the floor. "What I mean to say is... It's just that she's... Tohka is..."

"A Spirit?" Minato finished.

Shido lifted his head up and looked at his friend with enlarged eyes.

"H-How do you know that? You already knew about Tohka?" Shido inquired, almost sounding boldly. Minato shook his head, denying the claim.

"No. The first I heard of 'Spirits' was from you moments ago. Considering what we were talking about recently, I just assumed you were going to say that," Minato explained. "Am I correct?"

Shido sighed. "You're right, as usual."

"So, I'll hazard a guess that you kissed Tohka?" Minato asked curiously, effectively causing Shido to blush.

"A-Ano... Well, she kind of... kissed me first," Shido mumbled, scratching his cheek. He was embarrassed of the memory of his first kiss. Minato raised his eyebrows, impressed that it was Tohka who did the deed.

"What's there to be embarrassed about, Shido? It's very clear that Tohka cares about you and you care about her. Even if it's supposedly your mission to seal Spirits' powers inside you by making them fall for you, I can tell you care about them. I admire that about you," Minato told him with a rare, caring smile. If there was one thing he learned from mingling with Shido, it was that he truly he cared about others.

"C-C'mon. Don't say that..." Shido murmured, his blush remaining. A thought then crossed Minato's mind.

"Weren't we going somewhere, by the way?" Minato asked.

Shido's eyes widened in realization. "Ah crap!" He shouted, bursting forth from his original position with incredible speed.

Minato quickly followed suit, sighing.

* * *

"We're here!" Shido exclaimed, entering a room in Fraxinus while gasping for air. Minato soon arrived and slowed down as he examined his surroundings, standing behind Shido.

"I assume this is the main control room, then?" Minato inquired, judging based on Shido's words. The room reminded Minato of the main bridges in spaceships. In front of him were people at stations, each of them having a rather looking advanced screen. At the front of the room was a very wide and huge monitor. On the monitor was what appeared to be an area with a sizable crater in the center. Parts of buildings were destroyed where the crater was. It almost seemed like a meteor crashed down. "Is... Is that what a spacequake can do?"

"You're as smart as always, Minato," a familiar voice remarked.

Minato veered his head towards his right. Right next to him, he saw Reine without her white lab coat on. She had on a different set of clothes rather than the ones she wore previously. The expression on her face was the same as usual.

Past her was a tall man with long, blonde hair in a white suit with black outlines who was waving at Minato. His name was Kannazuki Kyouhei. He was the vice commander of Ratatoskr. He was standing next to a recognizable redhead.

The redhead was on a chair, looking at Minato with her hair in twintails because of the black ribbons that were maintaining them. She wore a red coat over her shoulders, a black tie with sidelines, a white shirt and black boots. She also had a Chupa Chups lollipop in her mouth.

"Kotori?" Minato asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Yes, it's me, Minato," Shido's sister confirmed bluntly. "It's about time you and Shido showed up. A spacequake just happened." Kotori turned her head towards the screen at the front of the room. "As you can see, it isn't as big as the last one, Shido."

"Hold on," Minato interrupted. "That's all you have to say, Kotori?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?" She sighed, grabbing the Chupa Chups lollipop from her mouth and then waving it in the air. "Fine, welcome to my command center, Ratatoskr," she said lazily. "Did Shido not brief you on anything on the way here?"

"What are you referring to? Do you mean Spirits?" Minato asked. Kotori nodded in affirmation.

"If you know about them, that's good enough for now, I suppose. I'll explain everything to you later. Proper introductions will have to wait as well," Kotori proclaimed with a tone that sounded like she was annoyed. Perplexed by Kotori's demeanor, Minato walked up to Shido and whispered in his ear.

"What's with Kotori? She's... different." The Kotori Minato knew was not like this. The one he knew was cheerful and cute twenty-four seven, like Tohka was on a good day when she and Origami weren't at each other's throats. This Kotori, however, sounded smug and arrogant. Did she have two personalities? The thought of it was unsettling.

"I know," Shido whispered back. "In short, she's like this when she assumes her role as the commander of Ratatoskr."

"Oh. So, she's the commander of this organization that's helping you romance Spirits?" Minato asked doubtfully, earning a nod from Shido.

"Surprising, isn't it? I was shocked too when I found out," Shido replied.

"Hey!" Kotori shouted, causing Shido to flinch and Minato to turn back to the young girl. "You two better stop talking to each other right now! If you two didn't already know, we're in the middle of a Spirit situation!"

Although somewhat miffed about Kotori's change in attitude, Minato decided to pay attention to her. The commander of Ratatoskr frowned and looked away. Kyouhei cleared his throat, preparing to speak and alleviating the inelegance in the air.

"I'd like to say that we got lucky this time, but the Hermit has always been like this."

"The Hermit?" Shido and Minato said simultaneously.

"That's the name of this Spirit. Records state that she has a quiet, docile nature," Kotori made clear. Ratatoskr's main screen was zoomed in on the crater that the recent spacequake created. There was a small person, clad in green, standing at the center. Their left hand had something small and white on it. A light green aura was radiating from the person's body, too. Minato presumed that the individual was the Spirit everyone was referring to. The screen then zoomed in on the Spirit's face.

The two bluenettes' eyes widened.

"I... know that girl," Shido managed to say.

"So do I," Minato added. The two stared at the screen in disbelief.

"What did you two say!?" Kotori questioned loudly. How did another Spirit go unnoticed by everyone like Tohka?

"We met her before school at one of the shrines the day before yesterday," Shido continued.

"Strange. No spiritual disturbances were detected around that time," Kyouhei commented, examining data on a tablet of some sort.

"Then it's the same as Tohka's case, huh?" Kotori concluded.

Minato was confused. Didn't Shido say that when Spirits come, spacequakes are brought about with them? So far, that information wasn't holding up well, according to what he heard just now.

"The AST is on the move!" A woman from one of the six stations in front of Minato spoke up. "They're commencing fire!" Images of young girls in their teenage years in mechanical suits of armor flying down while shooting with Gatling gun-like weapons then appeared on screen. They were all shooting at that little girl, explosions soon following from the shots. In spite of their efforts, the girl flew up, unscathed, and proceeded to fly away from the AST. They quickly chased after her, attempting to take her down.

Minato cringed at the sight. "How could they do that to a kid? She's not even fighting them," he criticized, containing a majority of his anger from leaking out. He clenched his fists tightly, though. Shido also showed displeasure with a glare and gritting his teeth.

"A target's appearance doesn't matter to the AST," Kotori elucidated. "As long as that girl's a Spirit, they will show no mercy."

Still seeing the vivid images of the altercation, Shido decided enough was enough. "Kotori! I want... to rescue that girl!"

"So do I," Minato quickly added. Shido shot him a look of disapproval.

"Sorry, Minato, but only I can go do this," he stated.

"It's too dangerous to go alone in that chaos, Shido. You'll need someone to back you up if things get ugly," Minato reasoned calmly. _'I didn't want to use my Personas for any reason since there wasn't one before, but it looks like I won't have a choice anymore. If it's to save that girl, I'll gladly do it.' _

"You are going, Minato," Kotori affirmed. Shido's jaw dropped as he looked at her with shock.

"B-But_—_"

"No 'buts' Shido," Kotori interrupted. She narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Didn't I already command you to bring him with you, or is your memory progressively getting worse?"

"I remember, yeah... but what can Minato do?" Shido wondered, ignoring Kotori's snarky remark.

Minato didn't like where this was going.

"Think of Minato as... reassurance," Kotori guaranteed, suppressing a grin as hard as she could.

_'Does she already know about my ability?'_ Minato thought to himself. _'No. She doesn't. At least not yet. I know I haven't summoned any of my Personas this past month. I only switched to using Kohryu that one time in case I accidentally injured myself. Maybe she just wants me there to support Shido in romancing the Spirit.'_

"Fine with me," Minato answered.

Despite the fact that Kotori gave the OK, Shido was uncertain on having his friend with him. He couldn't go against his sister's commands, though. If he did, he would die of embarrassment from her spreading humiliating things about him. Because the two were close siblings, he knew she wasn't going to make stuff up.

"Alright!" Shido gave up. They were wasting valuable time. "Let's go, then!"

"This way, you two," Reine said as she led the way to the teleportation room located in the lower section of Fraxinus that she and her students were in previously so the two blue-haired boys could use it to teleport to the Spirit's location. Shido and Minato followed after her. "We're going back to that room we initially appeared in. That room is for teleportation," she explained to Minato.

"That makes sense," he commented, finally putting the pieces together. He didn't want to bother learning the mechanics behind teleportation. Knowing that it was indeed possible was good enough for him. "Teleportation, huh?"

"It's useful, isn't it?" Reine asked. Minato only nodded in response.

_'It is, yeah. Trafuri has the same principle.'_

Shortly after the group left, Kyouhei turned to face his commander.

"Why did you have that boy go with Shido-kun?" He asked.

Kotori sighed.

"If you weren't on the floor sleeping the day before yesterday, you would have heard the conversation I was having with everyone else," she sneered. She wanted to punish him, but now was not the time to get upset over something so minor. "You see, there was a small fluctuation of spiritual disturbance a few weeks ago, around the time Minato came to live with me and Shido. I'll guess that you weren't aboard Fraxinus when the signal was picked up. Reine informed me that it originated from my home. Minato's room, to be specific. For the past month, we've kept a watchful eye on him for precaution," Kotori related to Kyouhei.

He processed all of the information that was given to him. A spiritual disturbance? That could only mean...

"Is he...?"

The commander of Ratatoskr smirked.

"Well, let our date and battle begin."

* * *

"The Spirit is hiding in here?" Minato wondered. After being teleported to the Spirit's location, he and Shido found themselves in a storage area of a department store, surrounded by mannequins that showed off women's clothing. They couldn't find the light switches for the room, so they had to make do and rummage around in darkness.

"According to Kotori, she is," Shido replied while glancing around him.

Minato tilted his head before asking, "How are you still communicating with her?"

"I was given an earpiece so I could talk with her," Shido informed, pointing to his right ear. "We also won't have to worry about the AST firing their weapons at the building for a while, again, according to Kotori."

"That should give you and I a good head start, then," Minato assumed. "So... where is she...?" He looked around the vicinity, but all he saw was darkness and the human body replicas wearing clothes. It was as if he was in a haunted house. Shido laughed nervously from the creepy atmosphere. They both turned behind them to search in other directions.

"Are you two here to bully Yoshinon, too?" A mischievous voice inquired.

Shido was caught off guard as he yelped at the sight of a talking rabbit puppet in front of him and promptly fell on his butt.

Minato, on the other hand, kept his cool. He remembered seeing the puppet the other day. They found the Spirit. He looked up and saw her standing upside down from the ceiling. She then flipped over, slowly and gently descending to the floor.

"Oh? I thought you two looked familiar, but who would've thought it was the lucky perverts!" The puppet spoke with a cheeky tone. The girl stared at the two bluenettes in front of her.

_'Pervert?'_ Minato reflected shortly, carefully analyzing the Spirit at the same time. _'Whatever. We found her without much trouble. Now, how do we go about this? Shido said that he had to make the Spirits fall in love with him. Perhaps I should tell him how he can start this process.'_ If there was one thing Minato was good at, it was that he was good at being charismatic. He always knew the right things to say to others. He was fortunate that his amnesia didn't make him lose it. He was about to tell Shido what to say but...

"Are we really going with that?" Shido asked quietly, holding a hand to his right ear while crouching. Minato assumed he was talking to Kotori. He could see sweatdrops forming on his face. What were they talking about? Shido then stood up straight, closing his eyes.

"Ha! I don't know what you mean. We're just free-willed wanderers," Shido stated to the Spirit with more confidence than usual, bishie sparkles flying off him as he brushed a hand through his hair.

Minato sweatdropped. That was totally unexpected. Though it did sound like something he would have told Shido as an option.

_'Did Kotori tell him to say that? It must be that. So that's how Ratatoskr assists Shido,'_ Minato mused.

Another thought crossed his mind.

_'If that's the case, then why am I here?'_

Minato's thoughts were disrupted as the puppet on the Spirit's hand started to laugh hard from Shido's proclamation. Shido sweatdropped in response. "Onii-san, are you trying to be funny? Nobody acts like that nowadays!" It indicated.

"She's right," Minato validated, pointing his thumb at the puppet. He assumed it was a girl by the sound of its voice. He didn't want to unintentionally upset the Spirit or the puppet somehow.

"See? The other Onii-san agrees with me," she said, inadvertently confirming that it was female.

"Shut up," Shido bluntly said to Minato, the latter merely shrugging in response, before turning back to the talking doll. "Heheh... I'm glad you liked it. I'm Itsuka Shido, and my friend here is Arisato Minato." Minato waved at the girl and puppet. "Who are you?"

"Ohohoho!" The rabbit giggled. "Minato-kun sure is handsome, now that Yoshinon can see him close-up! Shido-kun is too, I suppose." A blush so faint that Shido and Minato couldn't spot formed on the little blue-haired girl's cheeks.

_'You suppose?'_ Shido's eyebrow twitched. _'Seriously, what the heck?'_

_'Receiving adoration from a rabbit puppet... I can't tell if this is how the Spirit actually feels or if the puppet is its own person,'_ Minato pondered before smiling kindly. Might as well take what he can get. And he received a lot of similar praises this past month. "So, your name is Yoshinon?"

"Yup! Yoshinon's name is Yoshinon! 'Tis cute, is it not? Is it not?" Yoshinon asked with a lot of enthusiasm.

"Yeah, it is cute," Shido praised, eye-smiling. "Is that the name of the puppet? Or is that you?"

Minato abruptly sensed something. It felt... dark. It was resonating from somewhere. When he tried to pinpoint this mysterious feeling, he could see that Yoshinon, which he surmised was the puppet's name, had a glowing, red left eye. Her other eye was probably red too, if it wasn't for the eyepatch covering it. While she did have a seemingly perpetual smile, he discerned that Yoshinon was angry.

"Wrong choice of words, Shido," Minato whispered. Shido didn't hear him because he was listening to Kotori through his earpiece.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Shido asked aloud, absolutely unaware of what he had done. "I'm just asking why she was only using ventriloquism to speak."

When Shido redirected his attention towards the Spirit, he found the rabbit puppet right in front of his face, staring directly in his eyes.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Shido-kun..." Yoshinon stated eerily, expressing her tranquil fury. "What is this 'ventriloquism' you speak of?"

Shido, realizing his mistake, tried to turn the situation around. "O-Oh, I get it! Yoshinon is Yoshinon, right?" He laughed awkwardly shortly after.

"Good grief, Shido-kun, you mischievous boy!" Yoshinon teased, thankfully ignoring Shido's earlier accusation. "So, what did you and Minato-kun want?"

_'Okay. This is Shido's chance to ask the Spirit now," _Minato contemplated. Time to go for the kill. Or in this case, the date.

"Ano... This may be a little sudden, but..." Shido trailed off. Before he could finish, he placed a hand over his right ear. Kotori had something to say to him. "Wait... you want me to ask her that?" Shido's tone sounded wary. What did Kotori tell him?

Shido then cleared his throat, preparing to finish where he left off. He had to say what Kotori told him.

"Would you... go on a date with us?"

"A date?" Yoshinon wondered.

Minato blinked.

"...What?"

* * *

Outside, a girl with long, dark plum hair in a ponytail ran through the empty streets of Tengu City, wanting to find a certain blue-haired teenager.

She didn't know where he was, but she had her heart as her guide. She needed to know that he was safe. She wanted to be with him, no matter what.

Eventually, she found the "mecha-mecha squad" perched on top of tall buildings and floating in the sky, each one of them staring at an architecture with the number "109" labeled on it. She gritted her teeth when she saw them, but they weren't her main priority right now.

Her intuition was telling her to go inside. That boy was in there.

"Shido..." Tohka said worriedly, increasing her speed as she entered the building evasively.

* * *

"What do you think, Shido-kun, Minato-kun?" Yoshinon cheerfully inquired, seeking to impress the two bluenettes. The Spirit holding Yoshinon was balancing herself on a jungle gym that just happened to be stored in the storage room. Although, she looked as if she was going to fall at any moment because she wasn't standing perfectly still. "Isn't this cool? Doesn't Yoshinon look cool?"

"That's dangerous, Yoshinon!" Shido said worriedly. Minato merely and cautiously observed the Spirit and Yoshinon. Both blue-haired boys outstretched their arms should the Spirit slip and fall.

Yoshinon sighed as she crossed her arms. "Just tell me if it looks cool or not."

The Spirit then lost her balance, about to tumble forward. Before Minato could act, Shido instinctively covered the distance between the Spirit and himself and caught her. But in the process, Shido fell to the ground from the force.

"Are you two okay?" Minato questioned hastily. He soon clammed up because of what he was witnessing.

Shido couldn't talk. He found himself accidentally kissing the Spirit. This was bad. He didn't mean for it to happen. He didn't even reach a high enough intimacy level with the Spirit!

The Spirit stood up shortly after, staring at Shido who sat up after she got off him.

"A-Ano... This is... Um..." Shido muttered incoherently. Through his earpiece, he could hear the Spirit's mood meter decreasing. _'Dammit, the mood meter's going down.'_

"Ouchie! Sorry 'bout that, Shido-kun!" Yoshinon apologized while the Spirit was dusting herself off. "I guess I got too careless." Minato, sensing the tension in the air, made an attempt to alleviate it.

"At least you two aren't hurt badly," he stated concernedly.

"Aw, thank you, Minato-kun!" Yoshinon appreciated his concern for her.

"What happened?" Shido suddenly questioned. Minato noted that he was probably talking to Kotori. When Shido turned his head to his left, his jaw dropped. Noticing this, Minato glanced in that direction and his eyes widened.

Standing a few feet away with a visible, red aura emanating from her was Yatogami Tohka, glaring at Shido. The two blue-haired boys could have sworn that she went to a spacequake shelter! Why was she here?

"_Shido_... What are you doing?" Tohka hissed, her voice giving it its all to not sound agitated.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Shido inquired, frightened about what Tohka might do. He unconsciously touched his lips, and then he put his hands behind his back when he discovered what Tohka was talking about.

_'She must have seen that kiss,'_ Minato speculated. That had to be why she looked so mad.

"I'm left behind worrying about you and Minato..." Tohka continued, "only to find you making out with another girl!?" She screamed loudly.

Tohka then stomped the ground, a small crater forming from the impact. Minato started to feel uneasy.

_'I thought her Spirit powers were already sealed within Shido? So why does she have this kind of strength?'_ Minato then snapped his fingers. _'Perhaps her powers are tied to her emotions.'_

Seeing as how Shido was visibly quaking in fear, the blue-haired amnesiac decided to intervene and hopefully save his friend from Tohka's wrath.

"Tohka, this is just a misunderstanding," Minato said as collectedly as he could, holding out a hand that signaled for her to stop.

"...A misunderstanding? Minato, are you telling me that Shido's important business wasn't to be with this girl?!" Tohka exclaimed hysterically while also pointing at the Spirit dressed in green. She wasn't convinced. Not after what she witnessed seconds ago. With her doubt voiced, Minato attempted to think of ways to answer her that wouldn't end in disaster.

"Onee-san, ano..." Yoshinon chimed in, wanting to talk to Tohka, but she didn't catch her name.

"My name is Tohka," Tohka replied in a discouraging tone.

"Tohka-chan," Yoshinon continued, "I feel bad for you, but it looks like Shido-kun has grown bored of you."

"Wha_—_!?" The Raizen High students, sans Minato, gasped at the same time. Minato expressed his shock by barely raising his eyebrows.

"After listening to your conversation," Yoshinon persisted haughtily, "it seems like Shido-kun broke your promise and came to meet Yoshinon instead of you, right? No doubt about it, eh?"

Tohka became teary-eyed. She refused to believe it. No, it can't be true! This puppet was spouting complete nonsense! Shido wanted her to stay with him! He told her himself!

"No! What are you say_— _Mmmph!?" Shido raised his voice towards Yoshinon's remark, but he was quickly silenced by Tohka grabbing him by his cheeks with her hand.

And despite him not even uttering a single word, Minato found himself placed in the same predicament as Shido, much to his confusion.

"Shido, Minato, be quiet for a moment," Tohka commanded. She fastened her grips firmly on their cheekbones.

_'How strong is she?! And I didn't even say anything!'_ Minato shouted inwardly, as he couldn't free himself from Tohka's ungodly strong grip no matter how hard he tried.

"I truly am sorry," Yoshinon said mockingly, overlooking Minato and Shido being silenced. "It seems like Yoshinon is just _too_ attractive. I'm not saying it's _your_ fault, but you can't blame Shido-kun for ditching you to come see Yoshinon. Do you understand?"

"NOOOOOOOO!" Tohka then wailed, finally releasing her hold on Shido and Minato's faces as she flailed her arms like a child throwing a tantrum. The duo collapsed onto the floor in a miniature daze.

"I can't feel my face..." Minato muttered quietly. Shido concurred with a weak nod.

"Shut up! Bequietbequietbequiet! I won't allow that! That's not allowed!" Tohka cried out in despondency.

"Well, even if you tell me that I can't," Yoshinon perdured, "why don't you tell her yourself, Shido-kun? Tell Tohka-chan how she's just a nuisan_—_"

Tohka hurriedly whisked Yoshinon out of the Spirit's hand with a grab, preventing her from speaking further. She couldn't take it anymore! She seized Yoshinon's neck and proceeded to shake it.

"I am NOT a nuisance! Shido... Shido told me it was okay for me to be here! I won't take any more of your insults! Try running your mouth now, huh?! ...Hey! Why are you being so quiet?! Talk!" Since Yoshinon was no longer on the Spirit's hand, she didn't have the ability to speak. And then the young Spirit, fixing back her hood to shield her eyes as if she was trying to avoid being seen, in a nervous manner, tugged at Tohka's shirt. "Wh-What is it? I'm talking to this guy right now..."

"Please... give her back..." The Spirit's voice was heard once more, sounding meek and shy like Shido and Minato remembered. In an attempt to try and take back Yoshinon, who Tohka was lifting high up with both her hands, the Spirit jumped up and down, unsuccessfully making any progress in getting her back because she was short and couldn't jump high enough.

Recovering from his stupor and the pain in his cheek by rubbing it, Minato stood up while also helping Shido up. They noticed that the Spirit was becoming more distressed without the puppet that Tohka was currently strangling. This wasn't good. The plan was falling apart. Shido heard from Kotori that the Spirit's mental condition was deteriorating at an alarming rate. Without needing more unnecessary shouting in his right ear, Shido spoke cautiously with his voice shaking, "H-Hey, Tohka, could you... give that back to her?" He pointed unsteadily at the rabbit.

When he said his piece, Tohka gasped.

"Shido... She was right... You really _do_ like her better than me..."

"No! That's not it!" Shido reacted immediately. She misunderstood what he said. And at the same time...

"Zadkiel!" The Spirit shouted without warning, surprising Minato because she actually raised her voice. She raised her right hand into the air.

Behind the Spirit, the floor gave way, a giant figure manifesting at that spot. From what everyone could gather, the figure appeared to be an enormous, ravenous rabbit. Its teeth gave the impression that it can chomp essentially anything. A white mist flowed from its mouth. It then lowered its head, either staring or glaring straight at the high school students.

"What is that?" Minato asked in awe. He took a defensive stance, preparing himself should he get attacked.

"Th-This is..." Shido stuttered, unable to finish what he wanted to say. Tohka couldn't talk herself because of what was in front of her.

The Spirit jumped onto the gigantic rabbit's back, the rabbit suddenly roaring when she did so. Together with that, the white mist it was emanating blasted in every direction, hitting Minato, Shido, and Tohka head on, ice also encasing the area around it.

"This is very cold!" The Persona-user exclaimed loudly as he shielded his face with his arms. That mist was similar to liquid nitrogen, meaning that its temperature was within the subzero range. If he didn't do something now, he and his friends would probably freeze to death from the cold air.

Wait... Cold?

_'Could this work?'_ Minato thought briefly as he switched from using Kohryu to Scathach instead, blue shards floating out his head before fading from existence along with the noise of glass breaking.

All of which went unnoticed by the other three people in the room due to the radical predicament taking place at the moment.

* * *

"What is it, HQ?" Kusakabe Ryouko, the Anti-Spirit Team's team leader, asked aloud. The higher-ups of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force had just contacted her. She, along with the rest of the Anti-Spirit Team members, were waiting on the rooftops of buildings outside or flying in the air with their CR-Units (Combat Realizer Units), carefully and patiently monitoring the department store that the Hermit hid in not too long ago. To her right was Tobiichi Origami, one of the strongest wizards on the team.

"..." Origami continued to observe the department store diligently, ready to strike should the Hermit make herself visible.

"Y-You've got to be kidding me! There's ANOTHER Spirit literally right next to the Hermit!?" Ryouko shrieked, causing the members of the AST, save Origami, to flinch. The higher-ups had informed her that while the Hermit's Mana was fluctuating dramatically, another source of Mana was detected near the Hermit. It was only a sudden shift that disappeared briefly, but they identified that the shift could only originate from a Spirit. The JGSDF had actually picked up an equivalent reading about a month ago. That Spirit, however, immediately dropped out of their radar, preventing them from conducting further analyses. They came to the conclusion that this unknown Spirit had to be the same one from before, and it was able to suppress their powers.

Origami tightened her grip on her Cry Cry Cry, a large Anti-Spirit rifle. The gun itself was powerful enough to blast a hole through a human torso, something that Origami accomplished doing in the past, much to her despair. It was meant to kill Spirits, not humans! The reminder of that incident still haunted her. She vowed that she would never make that mistake again. Spirits had to die. Just like what she was going to do to the Hermit, she was willing to kill this newly emerged Spirit, too. It was their fault that her parents died five years ago...

"Hold on, Origami," Ryouko commanded, placing an arm in front of her comrade's body after she perceived it tensing up. "We haven't been cleared to attack just yet. We don't want to destroy everything left and right just for some Spirits. We're gonna have to wait until they decide to come out. Do you hear me?" She declared with seriousness. As much as Origami was a prized member of the AST, she would charge into battle without thinking or go against her superiors orders as of late.

The white-haired girl simply nodded in response.

* * *

After Minato equipped Scathach, he felt rejuvenated. The blasts of freezing air that were suppose to hit and make him shiver were absorbed into his body because Scathach being capable of absorbing ice-related attacks. It was a strange, yet revitalizing, sensation.

Through Ratatoskr's communication line, Kotori was telling to Shido to make a run for it. In her state, the Hermit was too unpredictable as she had just activated her Angel. Needless to say, it was dangerous to stick around any longer.

The windows of the room were smashed by sharp icicles raining out of them as more cold air rushed in. The icicles zoomed in, penetrating the floor and striking the surroundings. Shido, seeing that Tohka was in the icicles' path, grabbed her by the waist and barely avoided getting pierced by thrusting their bodies to the left.

Minato sighed in relief. "Good save, Shido..." He said under his breath. He then noticed that a familiar rabbit puppet was in front of him on the floor. "Tohka must have dropped Yoshinon. Maybe if I return her to the Spirit, she'll calm down," he ruminated as he went to pick her up, most of the icicles merely being sucked into his body instead of puncturing it. He held up Yoshinon with a hand when he came to her. "Gotcha."

"MINATO! LOOK OUT!"

The blue-haired teen whose name was called out turned behind him, seeing that it was Shido who shouted his name. Shido had a horrified expression on his face, but that wasn't the only thing Minato noticed. He also saw an enormous rabbit with red eyes charging straight at him like a bull. The distance between them was incredibly close.

"...Kuso," was all Minato managed to say before he instantaneously switched back to the Persona he was using previously.

The monstrosity of a rabbit stampeded forward, Minato taking its full onslaught. The impact didn't hurt him in the slightest because Kohryu had Null Strike, effectively canceling any damage he would have received from the charge. However, he was now stuck on the giant rabbit's snout as it kept charging forward without slowing down.

...Right into a wall.

* * *

"There's that signal again," Ryouko noted. The same spiritual signal had appeared once more. That confirmed it. There was indeed a different Spirit in the vicinity. "Listen up, everyone! There's another Spirit here besides the Hermit, so be on your guar—"

The eldest member of the AST was cut off as an explosion occurred in front of her eyes. Out from the explosion came a monstrous-looking rabbit that she assumed was the Hermit's Angel and something she wasn't expecting to see. Because of that certain something, everyone did not fire their weapons straightaway.

Origami's eyes widened greatly as she saw a recognizable head of blue hair. The hair was a couple of centimeters longer than her boyfriend's, which could only mean that the person was...

_'Minato!?'_

The expert wizard of the AST could only stare in horror as Minato's seemingly lifeless body slammed into the face of a building, a small cavity forming from the collision after the Hermit initially wall-hopped between buildings. Minato was momentarily lodged in it before he slowly fell head-first into the ground, the impact forming yet another crater.

"No... Not again..." Origami's voice trembled, her eyes losing their focus. A Spirit came and killed someone she cared for again right before her... First her parents and now one of her friends? "Why... WHY!?"

"Origami! Wait!" Ryouko called out, unsuccessful in stopping Origami who blindly charged at the Hermit when she landed on the ground.

Origami discarded her Cry Cry Cry and unleashed her No Pain, a laser blade meant to stab and slash Spirits. She had to kill the Hermit Spirit! All Spirits had to die! The Hermit's back was turned, so now was her chance! Killing the Hermit was her top priority! She had to avenge Minato!

* * *

_'That's something I shouldn't get used to,'_ Minato thought to himself as he remained motionless on the ground, his face seeing nothing but concrete. Despite the fact that he wasn't injured, he felt uncomfortable crashing into another building and then falling towards actual land from several stories high. It made him slightly dizzy. He had intended to let himself get tossed around to see what it would be like, knowing that there was a possibility he could have died.

Minato felt something soft in his hand. He then realized that he had been holding on to Yoshinon this entire time. With everything that just happened, he was kind of surprised that he didn't let go of the puppet.

He then heard a loud thud just ahead of him. He raised his head and noticed that the Spirit's rabbit monster landed on the ground. He also saw the Spirit girl looking directly at him, mainly at his hand. The blue-haired boy gave a warm smile, wanting to assure her that he wanted to give Yoshinon back as he waved with the puppet.

As he began to pick himself up, a black-and-white blur dashed past him, flying towards the Spirit. He couldn't make out who it was, but he observed that they had a type of sword in their hand. He instantly connected the dots.

_'Siegfried!__' _With another Persona switch, Minato jumped up to his feet and shot forward with boosted speed due to Siegfried's Auto-Masukukaja, disappearing from sight in an azure blaze.

* * *

Origami closed in on the Hermit. It was now or never! Minato would be avenged! She raised her arms towards the sky, preparing to deliver a swift downward slash.

"Haaaaaaah!" She cried out in anger, bringing down her No Pain.

The Hermit was taken by surprise. She was too focused on the blue-haired teen that suddenly vanished with Yoshinon in his hand. This white-haired girl above her was too close. She wouldn't be able to dodge in time even with Zadkiel. She instinctively shut her eyes, not wanting to feel or see anything scary that was going to happen to her.

...But nothing came.

The Spirit opened her eyes cautiously, wondering why nothing happened.

In front of Zadkiel in the air was Minato, apparently stopping Origami's attack with a headbutt as he looked up at the AST member.

"I didn't know you were in the Anti-Spirit Team, Tobiichi-san," Minato said calmly as the two descended to the ground. Since Siegfried could null Slash attacks, he wasn't fazed by what could have cleaved him in half.

Actually, he had forgotten that Siegfried had that passive ability. Talk about a lucky break!

"What is this...? You're... You're supposed to be dead!" Origami claimed, taking her No Pain off of Minato's head and placing it to her side. She was dumbfounded. She saw Minato fall to his "death" with her own eyes! So how was he in front of her? Not only that, how come her assault didn't do anything to him? And how did he appear out of nowhere?

"Ano... I suppose I did not think this through or far ahead." Minato sighed. He acted on impulse and was careless. How in the world could he explain to Origami why he was impervious to her laser blade, his fall, or the fact he practically showed up from nowhere?

As if Fate didn't want Minato to explain himself, a loud voice boomed from the sky, "ORIGAMI! GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

Origami didn't follow that command immediately, only replying with a light glare, "Why should I?"

"Because he's that Spirit we detected!" Ryouko added in a hurry.

"What? I'm not a Spirit," Minato denied, maintaining his calm demeanor. He was a human! ...With a special ability to summon manifestations of his psyche by shooting himself in the head. _'Okay, that might be why they think so, considering I switched Personas a couple of times already. Maybe those transitions are qualified as spiritual disturbances, which would answer how they sort of know about me.__'_

Origami was at a loss for words. This past month, she had been associating herself with a Spirit? This whole time, she talked with a Spirit and she didn't even know it?

"Is it true?" She asked Minato coldly, but hesitantly. She didn't want to believe that he was what she hated most.

"Listen, Tobiichi-san, I can assure you I am not a Spirit," Minato attested, not liking where this was going.

Origami gritted her teeth.

"Then tell me how you are still alive!" She responded in retaliation, her voice sounding angry and sad.

"...I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. I guess I'll have to take responsibility for my actions. Sorry, Tobiichi-san, but I'm afraid I can't let you and the AST harm the Spirit," Minato replied with a bitter smile. What Origami exclaimed couldn't have been avoided. He unintentionally revealed some part of his power by not taking any damage that would pretty much end the life of a normal person. There was no use in hiding it anymore. From what he could tell, he was going to get assaulted by the AST soon despite his claims.

Minato stuffed Yoshinon into a pocket and reached into another with his right hand, bringing out his hidden Evoker. Origami instinctively entered a defensive stance after seeing the gun-shaped object, surmising that Minato might have the intention of shooting someone.

Shockingly, that "someone" was himself as he held the gun to his head.

* * *

Ratatoskr witnessed the scene play out through Fraxinus's main monitor.

Kotori wasn't sure if she should feel interest or despair. There was the off chance that her assumption of Minato being a Spirit was wrong. There was also the chance that he could only unleash his Spirit powers by shooting himself.

She and the rest of her crew had their eyes glued to the screen, really hoping that the blue-haired amnesiac wasn't going to kill himself.

* * *

Several floors high from a huge hole in the wall, Shido and Tohka watched everything that occurred.

When Minato was plowed through a wall, they immediately ran to that area, exceedingly concerned for their friend. Tohka had put aside her jealousy for the time being, focusing mainly on Minato's condition with Shido.

Both were bewildered as to how Minato managed to survive, but there was something more important at hand right now.

* * *

Minato closed his eyes, relaxing his body and mind. Out of all the Personas he could use, he required one that would help him fend off the AST while also not injuring them severely. He saw no point in harming them, despite their occupations. He also did not believe in hitting a girl. Those girls mainly used guns and blades. Blades he could probably counteract with his skill alone, but guns...? He needed a Persona that can null or absorb Pierce damage.

A mysterious voice then sounded itself within Minato's mind.

_"Go on."_

He then found the perfect one.

For reasons unknown, a grin one would classify as "insane" came into view on his usually stoic face.

Shido, Tohka, and Origami couldn't believe what they were seeing. Minato was going to commit suicide!? And why did he look so happy!?

"WAIT! DON'T DO IT!" The three yelled at the top of their lungs simultaneously.

In spite of their efforts, Minato pressed the trigger as his eyes snapped open.

"Persona!"

The sonance of glass breaking was heard, followed by a surge of blue energy enveloping Minato's figure completely. From inside, colors of white sprouted forth.

Shortly after, the blue flame-like energy dissipated.

Minato, who was still holding his Evoker to his head, was revealed to be wearing the same, unknown school uniform Origami found him in the day she met him, instead of his Raizen High one, with his red armband on his left arm. Additionally, his clip-on headphones and neck-strap mp3 player remained with him.

A being of pure white floated behind Minato. Its hairstyle was precisely the same as the teenager's. Its body seemed to be mechanized. On the being's back was a white object larger than itself. A chain of connecting coffin lids was wrapped around its left arm. Although its appearance may say otherwise, it radiated a gentle aura.

Those weren't the only things that caught everyone's attention.

Vibrant, white wings were visibly connected to Minato's back, shining brilliantly. With them, Minato's visage was akin to an angel that originated from the heavens.

It was a display one would call "divine."

* * *

"So that's Minato's Spirit form. I never would have thought his Astral Dress was the clothes he had on his back when I first met him," Kotori commented, waving her Chupa Chups lollipop around, impressed by Minato's appearance.

An Astral Dress is a Spirit's armor or clothing that's created by their power. Spirits are able to alter it to however they want it to look.

"Can we even call his uniform an Astral Dress, seeing as how it doesn't look like one?" Kyouhei pointed out. Every single Spirit that had been seen up until this day were females. A majority of them wore, well, dress-like clothing. Now that the first male Spirit made himself known to the world, and considering how he was clothed, it wasn't proper to call his uniform a... dress.

"Hmm... I suppose we can't... So, what do you all suggest we should call his clothing?" Kotori asked her crew. "And no poll this time!"

"I may have a suggestion," Reine said, raising her hand. "How about 'Astral Suit'?"

Kotori raised an eyebrow. "'Astral Suit'?"

"His attire does resemble a suit, does it not?" The physics sensei indicated.

Kotori shrugged. "So it would seem. Alright everyone, that's the term we'll be using from here on out! Those that agree say 'I'!"

"I!" Ratatoskr's members collectively agreed.

* * *

"Unreal... Minato's actually a Spirit?" Shido mumbled. That must have been why Kotori wanted Minato to go with him this time. He had no idea that his friend was a Spirit all this time.

He then had a thought that made him cringe.

_'Does... does that mean I have to romance... him? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' _Shido screamed mentally, clutching his head at the idea._ 'NO! NO YAOI! ANYTHING BUT THAT!'_

"He's... just like me?" Tohka wondered in amazement.

* * *

Origami dropped to her knees. She couldn't deny what was in front of her this whole time.

Arisato Minato is a Spirit.

* * *

"Ano, this is new. Why am I back in these clothes? I thought I had them stored in my room. And what's with these wings?" Minato spoke after what seemed like an eternity, ignoring everything and everyone but the wings he somehow grew suddenly. If the situation wasn't so tense, everybody would have fell flat on their faces. Why did he have wings? Were they real? He reached out to touch them, and to his amazement, he could actually feel them.

His wings were... soft.

"Wow..." was all he said as he stared at his hands. He legitimately did not think they were soft to touch, let alone them being tangible. Having tangible wings could result in inconveniences for him, but that thought did not cross his mind as he still found himself in awe. He tried flapping them with his willpower, and they indeed fluttered, bursts of wind forming and him rising a few inches over the ground as a result. The sensation felt natural and unnatural, like it shouldn't have been possible to begin with, yet it seemed like it was something that should be instinctive also.

When he was finished registering his thoughts, Minato palmed his face. _'__What... happened to me? This does and doesn't feel right. My old clothes materializing on my body, my new wings... They almost feel like abnormalities, like my amnesia.'_

Minato's internal monologue was cut short as blares of gunfire echoed from every direction.

"OPEN FIRE!" Ryouko commanded, bringing down her arm that signaled for her comrades to fire.

The blue-haired boy let out a grunt.

_'Mind Charge.'_

At that moment, bullets from the Anti-Spirit Team's Auldists (Anti-Spirit Gatling guns) rained down on Minato's and the Hermit's location, kicking up a massive amount of dust. Minato didn't even dodge. He just stood there. The Hermit, however, started to run away on Zadkiel. Some members of the AST proceeded to chase after her with their Auldists.

"Did we get him?" Ryouko wondered, fixating more on the male Spirit and thinking that it seemed way too easy for a Spirit to go down so soon.

"None of that will work on me," a familiar, but bored-sounding voice stated as the dust was blown away by sudden gusts of wind. When the smoke cleared, swirls of green wind that resembled a tornado was seen. Minato was in the center of it, along with that white being he summoned earlier. The unknown entity was holding its arm out, as if it was about to take a bow. Both it and Minato weren't riddled with bullet holes at all.

Minato raised one of his fingers in the air just before he spoke. "One of my Persona's abilities is that it can absorb Pierce damage. Gunshots count as Pierce damage. You girls are just wasting your time and ammunition. Even though I don't need the extra health, you're inadvertently healing me."

"What..." Ryouko's mouth dropped as several other AST members' did also.

Honestly, the Persona-user was disappointed. Even though he wanted to maintain a low profile, he sort of desired a challenge should the situation become dire. In Minato's mind, anything the AST could attack him with would get negated or absorbed upon contact with his body. What a joke. Though, he shouldn't be so carefree now. He had to be serious. He was just labeled as a Spirit.

"Messiah, Panta Rhei," Minato ordered calmly, forming a fist with his free hand. The Persona known as Messiah then released the vortex it had been maintaining for some time towards the sky, its power doubled by the Mind Charge Minato utilized earlier. The tornado then expanded enormously in midair, dragging in the remaining members of the AST that didn't chase after the Hermit, including the field team leader, Ryouko. Despite exploiting the Protect aspect of their Realizers, they were sucked in regardless. As a result, those girls kept continuously spinning in circles on account of Minato retaining Messiah and the Panta Rhei constantly, depleting his "spiritual" power marginally.

During that same time, a few feet ahead of him, Minato noticed one wizard was cowering, wielding her blade as if it was her first time doing so. He began to walk towards her with his head tilted, causing her breathing to hitch violently.

"No... Stay away from me! Get away! Don't hurt me!" The girl shrieked, collapsing onto the ground and passing out from fear. The blue-haired amnesiac simply shrugged at the sight. One less person to deal with.

Minato recognized that this would be an opportune time to leave while he had the chance as he sheathed his Evoker in one of his blazer's pockets. Surely by now, Shido, and possibly Tohka, had been beamed to Fraxinus since he now realized that the Hermit Spirit was not here anymore. That WAS the reason he and Shido came here. Minato facepalmed. He had missed his chance to return Yoshinon. Mission failed.

The blue-haired boy didn't want to use Trafuri any longer. Taking into consideration his revelations, he wasn't sure where one use of it would take him. He eventually chose that he would fly to somewhere that wasn't here until the coast was clear, slightly hoping that Ratatoskr would teleport him back to Fraxinus during that period of time and for his wings to go away. He couldn't walk in public with those things! Then again, the population of Tengu City were in the spacequake shelters, so it was very likely no one will see him.

He was about to take off into the sky until something stopped him.

"Give up."

Minato didn't have to turn his head to know whose voice that was. Origami was holding her No Pain to his neck. He had forgotten the fact that she was still here.

"And then what? Will you kill me? That is the Anti-Spirit Team's duty, is it not?" Minato asked flatly, holding his hands up in resignation. No hint of fear was perceived in his tone.

Origami's hold on her blade became unsteady. Her heart and mind were conflicted. She didn't want to kill her friend, but that friend was a Spirit, an _enemy_. She had to. It was her mission by the AST, no, main objective in her life to exterminate every single one of their kind.

But... could she kill one that she befriended?

Minato, taking advantage of Origami's moment of indecisiveness, decided to finish what he had started.

"Persona." Another Persona change, and Minato vanished in a flash of blue. That in turn dismissed Messiah finally and the Panta Rhei twister. He reappeared behind Origami and delivered a swift blow to a vital point in the back of her neck. She instantly fainted on the spot as she fell backwards into his arms, unconscious.

"I'm sorry..." Minato whispered as he gently lay Origami down. It pained him to have to injure a friend, especially the one who had saved him.

When he accomplished that, the scenery around him changed in a blur, but he realized that he arrived back in Fraxinus' teleportation bay. Once he gave a sigh of relief, his wings faded away along with his old clothes in a shimmer of white light, regaining his Raizen High uniform again, though he didn't notice it immediately.

Minato then proceeded to make his way towards the command center on the airship. He had _a lot_ of questions that needed to be answered.

"Time for some clarification, Kotori."

* * *

"What do you make of that Spirit, Ike?" Ellen Mira Mathers asked Deus Ex Machina Industries' director after the two finished watching the fairly recent battle conclude on a screen.

Sir Isaac Ray Peram Wescott chuckled and grinned darkly. This Spirit was very interesting, making incredibly quick work of the Anti-Spirit Team like he did was an impressive feat. And it was the first male Spirit nonetheless!

"It seems as though we're dealing with something the likes of which we've never seen before."

* * *

**A/N (Version II):** Kept you waiting, huh? So the anticipated chapter 3 is finally released. What do you all think of it? Personally, I couldn't have imagined it in any other way.

Sorry for the long wait, real life caught up to me. Graduated high school, applied for college, and getting a job took up practically all of my time. When I actually had free time, I worked on my stories bit by bit. I also got into a Persona 4 Arena craze, which I'm still in right now in preparation for Ultimax. With all of that aside, I can truly say that I'm free to work on my stories again.

I have a feeling most of you were disappointed in how the fight turned out. But when you really consider any fight against the AST, other than Origami and one other girl, in Date A Live, they're certainly one-sided. If you guys have been keeping up with the anime or reading the light novels, things are heating up. So, the future fights in The Divine Spirit will as well.

Have most of you also seen the English dub for Date A Live yet? So far, I like it! Shido's voice is deeper than I expected, but it's good enough for me. The English dub uses the term "spatial quake" instead of spacequake, so do you guys want me update the story by replacing spacequake with "spatial quake" or does it even matter since it's the same thing?

I coined the term "Astral Suit" for Minato since he's male, there hasn't been a male Spirit introduced in Date A Live at the time I'm writing this, and his Gekkoukan uniform does look like a suit. His Astral Suit's name is "Mashiach." In Hebrew, it means Messiah.

Minato's "Angel" is his Persona, or Personas. He can use all 170 Personas and weapons at his disposal. He'll usually equip his strongest or most useful Personas for their benefits. With Minato's speed increased from a Sukukaja, he's exactly like Yosuke when he uses it in Persona 4 Arena.

A majority of those who reviewed and messaged me have been asking what the pairings for this story will be. Honestly, I know what I'm going to do with Shido, but Minato is the bigger question. He's definitely not going to be with Tohka or Origami for obvious reasons. I'm stuck between Kurumi, Kaguya, and Yuzuru. Let me know what you guys want to see!

Minato may have an unwanted harem, but he will be paired up with someone!

Also, you all can check on my progress for upcoming chapters of The Divine Spirit or my other stories on my profile!

I strongly feel that the Burn My Dread -Reincarnation: Persona 3- soundtrack goes great with The Divine Spirit. Imagine scenarios with the soundtrack in mind, and you guys will understand what I mean. Like... _Deep Breath Deep Breath_ during a date!

So, what do you all think would be a fantastic opening/ending song for The Divine Spirit if it had its own anime? I love the Date A Live openings and endings, but I'd like to hear suggestions! Personally, for where the story is at right now, _Burn My Dread -Spring of Birth Ver.-_ is what I would pick for an opening.

Below this paragraph is "Ratatoskr's Confidential Spirit Data Analysis" on Minato, Tohka, and Yoshino. For every Spirit other than Minato, their data are based on information from the light novel version of Date A Live. I included them so you guys can have a better understanding of the Spirits. I won't be showing off Tohka's, Yoshino's, or any other Spirits' profiles repeatedly, only when they appear for the first time in The Divine Spirit or if something changes about them. The analysis will be updated as the story continues, mostly Minato's.

* * *

**Spirit: Arisato Minato**

**Nickname: Divine**

**Threat Level: SS**

**Spacequake: C (Megido), B (Megidola), A (Megidolaon), ? (Morning Star), ? (Black Viper), ? (Armageddon)**

**Spirit's Astral Suit (Mashiach): S**

**Angel (Persona (Messiah, Orpheus Telos, Thanatos, etc.)): SSS**

**Weapon: One-handed swords, two-handed swords, **bows, **fists, bludgeons, spears**

**Notes: This Spirit is able to summon spacequakes at will and control their intensities. His Angel is diverse in terms of appearances and abilities. He refers to his Angel as "Persona" in general, so it's safe to assume that it is what his Angel is called, although each Persona apparently has a unique name of their own. Because of his Angel, he's the only known Spirit that can absorb and heal himself from different types of assaults. He is adept in wielding various kinds of weapons, including his own fists. Although he is given a higher rank than Nightmare, he is shown to be rather cordial, only attacking when provoked. Most importantly, this Spirit is the only male one to be documented.**

* * *

**Spirit: Yatogami Tohka**

**Nickname: Princess**

**Threat Level: AAA**

**Spacequake: B**

**Spirit's Astral Dress (Adonai Melek): AAA**

**Angel (Sandalphon): AAA**

**Weapon: Broadsword**

* * *

**Spirit: Yoshino**

**Nickname: Hermit**

**Threat Level: B**

**Spacequake: C**

**Spirit's Astral Dress (El): B**

**Angel (Zadkiel): AA**

**Weapon: Puppet**

* * *

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to play competitive video games online, watch some more anime, and enjoy my summer vacation!

Thanks for reading! As always, reviews are appreciated!

Reviewers:

**BloodTrinity:** Your question has been answered!


	4. Soul Phase

**Chapter 4: Soul Phase**

* * *

_"No one knows what the future holds... No matter how prepared you are, you can't predict what will happen. So, the only thing you can do is 'believe'." ___— Yamagishi Fuuka____

* * *

"...Ohhhhh, my head. Why... is the world spinning so much? Kami, please make it stop!" Kusakabe Ryouko moaned loudly. Her head swayed from side to side as she stood up from the ground.

After being sucked into what could have been the worst and fastest thrill ride in existence, she was sent flying towards a street when the newly discovered Spirit ended his "Tornado from Hell" ride. Her Realizer protected her from suffering any physical injuries, but she now had an immense headache. Her barely managing to stand up straight wasn't helping it either.

She shook her head a few times in order to get her bearings. Once that was done, she looked up to find light rain falling from the gray, cloudy skies. Whether it was caused by the Hermit's powers or it was just natural rain, she didn't know. She checked her surroundings and witnessed her fellow AST comrades either in a state of anesthesia, walking as if they were inebriated from consuming too much sake, or regurgitating their lunches and maybe even their breakfasts violently.

Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant sight to behold.

The team leader of the AST found herself letting out a heavy sigh. This was, without a doubt, the most embarrassing loss caused by a Spirit EVER. Not only was the Spirit nowhere in sight, which Ryouko assumed that he was long gone by now, he subdued her and her team faster than any other Spirit they had encountered so far. The repercussions of the battle, if it can even be referred to as a battle, left the AST in conditions akin to severe hangovers.

This Spirit didn't break a sweat when he formed and controlled that vortex, and she had a feeling it likely wasn't his strongest technique. If that was the case, how many more tricks did he have? The option of shooting him was completely out the window, since he could heal himself from gunshots. From what Ryouko saw with Origami, sword strikes did absolutely nothing. Was he invincible? The notion of that made her sigh again.

"Even if it is my job to kill Spirits, I don't think I want to see _that_ Spirit any time soon. We'll have to be more careful around him from here on out. At this rate, I'll be sprouting gray hairs even though I'm 27," Ryouko muttered as she placed a hand on a wall for support. "Although, I am a bit surprised. He was the first male Spirit I've seen in all my years in the AST. I always assumed every Spirit was female." She fascinated over the discovery as she sat on the ground in an attempt to ease her headache slightly, finding and sitting beside Origami who appeared to be unconscious, but not harmed.

_'Out of everyone, you somehow got off easy,' _Ryouko thought briefly with a small smile. She then glanced back to her teammates and observed the same pitiful scene of insentience, staggering steps, and vomit repeating itself.

She sweatdropped.

"Before we head back to base, this may take a while to recover from first... The higher-ups won't be thrilled to hear about this..."

* * *

Minato wasn't sure what to expect when he entered the command center on Fraxinus.

It only took a short while for him to come back to the command center. When he did arrive, the crew of Ratatoskr was there to greet him with questionable looks and smiles, as if they stumbled upon something incredible and were not doing a good job of containing their excitement. Except for Reine, which wasn't at all startling. She eyed Minato while maintaining a neutral face.

The blue-haired teen frowned as he knew what they, sans Reine, were so ecstatic about. He also noted that neither Shido or Tohka were present in the room.

"Welcome back, Divine," Kotori greeted her housemate casually as he returned from his latest clash.

For a couple of seconds, she received a blank stare from the person she was talking to.

"Sorry, say that again?" Minato said while tilting his head.

"Divine," Kotori repeated firmly. "That's your given nickname as of today."

"...Before I ask why, where are Shido and Tohka, Kotori?" It wasn't surprising for Minato to be perplexed. Kotori certainly didn't beat around the bush. Though she acted differently than what he was used to, Minato inwardly remarked that Shido's sister normally left out pieces of information that would compensate one's understanding. It was something that he and Shido were understandably annoyed by.

All of that aside, he was concerned about his two friends that he probably gave heart attacks to. For them, they didn't know that Minato wasn't a normal person. He felt remorseful for having them experience unnecessary sorrow. He made a mental note to apologize to them later for worrying them so much.

"Oh, I sent them home after we retrieved them from that department store shortly after you wiped the floor with the AST," Kotori explained with a grin. Never did she see such a swift defeat at the hands of a Spirit. What happened to the AST afterwards almost made her choke on her Chupa Chups lollipop when she tried to contain her laughter. Vice commander, Kannazuki Kyouhei, tried to use that opportunity to... exploit some of his inner desires. In the end, he received a swift uppercut to his jaw while giving a sigh of joy. "I have to say, Minato, I never knew you were such a powerful Spirit."

The blue-haired boy couldn't stop his eyebrow from twitching at the last word. Now that he knew Shido and Tohka were safe at home, he could focus on the concerning issue that had been bothering him for some time.

"...Am I really a Spirit?" Minato questioned hesitantly, hoping to hear that he wasn't a being that can bring about mass destruction through spacequakes.

Sadly, his hope was crushed as he earned a solemn nod from the young redhead.

"Based on our readings, you apparently are," Kotori confirmed with a hint of sadness in her voice. She could relate with Minato, considering that he was originally human. Unbeknownst to him, Shido, and people not in Ratatoskr, she too is a Spirit. She knew for a fact that she was born into the Itsuka family as a human, but five years ago, she somehow gained Spirit powers. How exactly she received them, she, for the life of her, can't remember. To this day, it still pissed her off.

Kotori's situation was very similar to the blue-haired teen's, if the process of him becoming a Spirit was what caused his amnesia. There was also the scenario in which he was a Spirit entirely with no signs of ever once being human, similar to Tohka. On account of Minato being unable to recall anything past the day she met him, it was impossible to know which was the truth.

"...I see," was all the bluenette said in response. He bit his lower lip, but he masked his bewilderment with his frequent, cool veneer. In his mind, he didn't know what to make of this revelation. It did kind of resolve the anomaly of him regaining his old clothes and acquiring angel-like wings. Why exactly was the reason those clothes appeared and not any other apparel, however, proved to be elusive to him.

Minato's amnesia, which he still hadn't recovered from incidentally, seriously didn't help his case. He was disturbed with the doubt of him ever being a human in the first place. Yet, in the back of his mind, there was something telling him that he was a human before. Was it denial or some sort of truth trying to reach out to its host?

The blue-haired Persona-user had to admit, he was beginning to not care about what he was in the past. The present and future were more meaningful to him, though he still wondered what his past held. The important question he was more interested in right now was: Could he still live a normal life like he did for the past month? He felt certain that it was possible, if Shido's words from earlier were the truth. Tohka didn't seem to have issues being a part of society now with her Spirit powers sealed within Shido.

_'Oh wait...'_ Minato had a considerably extreme urge to facepalm himself as an unsettling thought crossed his mind. If he wanted to be like Tohka, free from the burden Spirits had to bear, he would have to... go on a date with Shido... fall in love with him... and kiss him.

The idea of that scenario playing out for real made Minato want to shoot himself with an actual handgun. He was _not_ into yaoi, like some of his fangirls at school claim him to be. He just wasn't romantically interested in anyone of the opposite sex at the moment, and he certainly didn't want to fool around with innocent hearts.

Fortunately, he was brought out of his mess of thoughts by the commander of Ratatoskr.

"Well, you're taking the news better than I imagined, Minato. I thought you would, I dunno, freak out or go mad from the truth. Then again, that doesn't sound like something you would do. You show, like, no emotions at all," the only redhead in the room ruminated presumptuously. Other than the occasional smiles that lasted only mere milliseconds, she had to admit, her Onii-chan's friend had a flawless poker face. Living with him for a month, she picked up on him being quite the composed teen, unlike her Onii-chan, who can't take everything in stride, much to her annoyance.

"If I am classified as a Spirit, then there isn't much I can do but acknowledge the truth." The bluenette sighed. To not accept that fact wouldn't be beneficial to him whatsoever. "Ano, since I'm apparently a Spirit, do I have to... date Shido?" Somehow, he managed to force those words out without choking. He wanted to know if he had to go through the same process as female Spirits did with Ratatoskr's method of handling Spirits.

"Nope," Kotori replied simply.

Minato blinked.

"Really?"

Kotori nodded.

"There isn't a need for you to date him. When you first initiated your power, you were practically brimming with vast amounts of Mana____—____that's a Spirit's energy, in case you were wondering. Once we retrieved you, all of that Mana we were analyzing on our scanners just vanished without a trace. Right now, we're detecting nothing from you. We're not sure quite yet, but assuming our theory is correct, your Spirit powers will temporarily go away when you don't use them continuously." Kotori's rationale gave a sense of relief to Minato. If what she said was true, then it would be very easy for him to just not use his Personas.

Be that as it may, he intended to make use of his rare ability so that he may offer assistance in Shido's and Ratatoskr's mission to rescue Spirits.

At first, the blue-haired boy wasn't particularly certain as to why he was involving himself in this abnormal situation that sounded like it came straight out of an anime. In his eyes, Spirits may be just like him in terms of unnatural talents, and now he was supposedly one himself. Going off from his observations with the Hermit and Tohka, not all of them appear to have any desires to fight. Spirits were also the origin of spacequakes, but did that mean every single one of them caused those disasters intentionally? Not necessarily.

If Minato had to guess why he wanted to play a part in these irregular circumstances, it was because he didn't want to merely stand by and let Spirits experience agony they didn't deserve.

...He also felt that he was no stranger to unnecessary despair, as if he witnessed scenes or heard stories of melancholy countless times. How? He didn't know. Being an amnesiac was such a bother at times.

"So I just don't have to use my Persona, and I won't show up on Spirit detectors," Minato unconsciously inferred out loud. This allowed Kotori and Reine to immediately take note of what he said.

"'Persona'? Is that what your Angel is called?" Kotori inquired with a raised eyebrow. That was an unusual name for a Spirit's Angel. For whatever reason that eluded her intelligence, Spirits' Angels shared names with archangels of mythology. For example, the name of Tohka's Angel was Sandalphon, and the Hermit's Angel's name was Zadkiel, both of which are actual names of archangels. Did this concept mainly apply to female Spirits, then?

Minato nearly grimaced for letting himself mention more of his ability.

"Persona... is more so a generic term for a manifestation of my psyche. Each Persona I use has their own unique name and appearance," the blue-haired teen revealed calmly. He felt that there was no way he was leaving until he informed Ratatoskr with enough information about him and his abilities. He had already given away too much information about himself.

"Wait, you can use more than one?" Kyouhei wondered in amazement after noticing a few critical terms. Minato confirmed his question with a nod.

"Yeah. Messiah, the one you all, I assume, saw me summon was only one of many Personas I possess." There was a collection of gasps among a few members of Ratatoskr. Reine, who was carefully studying her student's words, decided to ask him a question.

"How many Personas can you use?" Minato found himself kind of surprised that his sensei wanted to know that. He initially thought that the questions would end with what he last said.

Suppressing a sigh, he believed it wouldn't hurt to be honest.

"Around one hundred seventy," he admitted with a shrug. He didn't know the exact extent of how many Personas he had, but he surmised it was around that number give or take.

The looks of everybody in the room, sans a silver-haired woman and a blue-haired teen, suggested that they heard they were just fired from their jobs.

"WHAT!?" They all clamored in unison. As much as Minato enjoyed listening to music on somewhat high volumes, he flinched slightly at the resounding chorus of shouts.

"Yes. Keep in mind that not all of my Personas are equal in terms of strength or abilities. Each of them are unique in their own ways." The looks of shock were amusing to Minato, but he didn't express it outwardly. Not desiring to go into a tangent, he decided to return to the subject of his recently acquired nickname. He would only waste more time by continuing to talk about his power. "So, why is my... nickname 'Divine'?"

Kotori blinked and shook her head, shaking off her bewilderment.

"That, well, was sort of based on your appearance and that Persona you summoned. For easier classification, every Spirit has a nickname of their own based on their mannerisms, appearances, and abilities. Also, Divine doesn't necessarily mean 'angelic', though. It could also mean godlike, almighty, omnipotent, and the list goes on, hence why it seemed like a suitable title for you." To Minato, the logic in Kotori's reasoning was acceptable. It was a tad too grandiose for his liking, but he supposed he could live with being called Divine. He was at least thankful that he didn't receive a more inferior or ridiculous title.

"Sounds reasonable. Thank you for telling me what I needed to know, Kotori." Minato expressed his gratitude with a small smile. He was appreciative that Shido's sister decided to not be as whimsical as she normally would be. It saved him from becoming annoyed.

"No problem, Minato!" Kotori smiled brightly, giving him a thumbs-up. "Now, is there anything else you'd like to know?"

For a moment, the stoic bluenette had nothing else on his mind to ask her. He wanted to return home and see Shido and Tohka. He stuck his hands in his blazer's pockets, preparing himself to leave. He then felt something as soft as a pillow, and his mind flashed back to a little girl he met some time ago.

"Do you know what happened to the Hermit?" Minato realized that he hadn't seen her since he called forth Messiah. He was admittedly worried about her because she was practically a scared little girl. The lack of hesitation the AST displayed when they chased and tried to attack her unnerved Minato. How could anyone exhibit such apathy towards harming an innocent-looking little girl, even if she was a Spirit?

"She managed to escape from the AST in a puff of cold air by utilizing her Angel. Because of this, for now, the date Shido was supposed to have with her is on hold until she reappears," Kotori informed. "You know, Minato, it's kind of nice to see you show concern for her, given how you normally act."

Her last statement had then earned a blank stare from Minato.

"What do you mean?" He wondered. Kotori snickered.

"Ah, never mind," she said dismissively, though the grin plastered on her face said otherwise. "I'm just messing with you."

A faint smile appeared on Minato's face.

"You never change, Kotori." The redhead flinched from that response, not sure what to make of his statement. She could not tell if her brother's best friend was complimenting her or not. Arisato Minato wasn't exactly a person who expressed themselves very often.

"Hmm... I'll take that as a compliment," Kotori supposed hesitantly. "So, is there anything else you'd like to know?"

Minato thought about her words for a moment.

"There is one thing," he said calmly. "I remember Shido asking the Hermit if she wanted to go with me _and _him on a date. Why is that?"

Kotori blinked.

"Oh, right. Remember what I said to Shido before the two of you left together? 'Think of Minato as... reassurance.' At that time, we sort of already knew about you potentially being a Spirit, but we didn't know for sure. If anything did happen, you were there to protect Shido."

Minato found himself staring at the redhead with incredulity. That was a rather large gamble she took. She didn't even know for a fact that he was a Spirit! What kind of person was she to put someone like him, who didn't even had an inkling to his past, in potential danger?

"And what if you were wrong about me being a Spirit?" He retorted.

"Then we would have retrieved you both and you would act as moral support for Shido on future dates," Kotori affirmed.

Minato facepalmed and sighed. The redhead was rather audacious. She had a plan all figured out apparently, albeit an odd one.

"...Do you mind teleporting me home if we're all done here? I don't mind helping Shido in the future as long as other Spirits' powers will be secured inside him." He yawned as he proceeded to exit the command center. All of the excitement from today had started to take its toll on Minato. He felt hungry, too. Maybe he could cook some type of yakimono as his way of saying sorry to Shido and Tohka. At the very least, he knew Tohka would forgive him if she ate his food. She _loved _to eat. Probably more than he did, which was a little shocking to him.

Kotori inwardly grinned. She heard exactly what she wanted to hear from Minato.

Before he could leave, he was stopped by Reine as she stood in his way. She stared at him quietly for a moment that lasted not too long.

"I'm sorry for taking up your time, Minato, but could you come with me for a health exam?" She politely asked. "I do this for each Spirit in case there are any abnormalities that should be brought to attention." Honestly, Minato was curious if there were some irregularities with himself, aside from being a Spirit obviously. Perhaps Reine can locate the source of his memory loss through this examination.

"If that's the case, then lead the way, Sensei," Minato complied. Reine nodded and she left the command center with her student following behind her as they went to the sick bay on Fraxinus.

Silence had veiled the room as the rest of the members of Ratatoskr remained behind until the vice commander spoke up.

"Wait, you forgot to introduce Minato-kun to the crew," he pointed out. Kotori turned to face her second-in-command and shrugged.

"At first, I was going to do that, but he had a pretty long day, so I let it slide for now," she explained. "We've got plenty of time in the future for introductions anyway."

"Oh, that makes sense I suppose," Kyouhei said. "So what are we going to do about Minato-kun, if we don't have to seal his power?"

Kotori couldn't hide the smirk that was displayed proudly on her face.

"If all goes according to my plan, he'll be Ratatoskr's precious little Wild Card."

* * *

"Hey, Tohka! Will you let me in?" A blue-haired teen pleaded, knocking on a door to a dark purple-haired girl's room in his home that had a sign that read "Tohka".

Now dressed in more comfortable clothing after coming back from the recently failed date attempt, Itsuka Shido wanted to explain to Yatogami Tohka that what happened between him and the little Spirit girl was a misconception.

Well, not everything was false, he had to admit. The kiss she witnessed was a complete accident, definitely. What Tohka implied before about him leaving her behind to meet the Hermit wasn't fake. That was the absolute truth. He didn't want to leave her alone, but he was given a good reason for doing so. Since she could no longer utilize her Spirit powers, she would be more vulnerable in case a fight would break out between another Spirit and the AST. He wished for her to be safe because he cared about her. Their date last month proved that.

If he could just tell her that the little girl was a Spirit, just like her, and now Minato, then she might stop being upset with him.

Shido certainly hadn't forgotten about Minato, who was probably the closest male friend he had in his life. There was Tonomachi, but they talked mostly about random stuff in school. Seriously, did they speak about anything that wasn't related to girls?

The amnesiac bluenette was someone Shido admired and could relate with. He held his friend in high regard for his never-ending calmness. This past month, he got to know the other blue-haired boy better. In hindsight, Minato wasn't really all that different from him. Under that serene, unbreakable exterior was a person who was about as kind-hearted as the oldest of the Itsuka siblings. Kotori often times compared the two and teased that they were long-lost brothers since they were so alike in terms of personality and appearance. Shido also found out that Minato possessed an interest for cooking just like he did, which only made it easier for Kotori to tease them. The two blue-haired teens didn't mind after the first few times.

There was now a problem Shido was worried about: Minato being a Spirit. The shock of the revelation wore off when the oldest Itsuka sibling came back home with Tohka, who proceeded to lock herself in her room. Just because his friend was a Spirit, it didn't change Shido's mind about him one bit.

What he was very afraid of was one possibility that he would emphatically refuse to do, even if he was ordered to by his sister: date Minato. He'd rather take Tohka to that one hotel she really wanted to go to on their first date than perform an action most fangirls would get bloody noses from.

Let it be said that Itsuka Shido wasn't one to judge a person based on their sexual preferences because it would seem unfair. Still, that did not mean he would partake in questionable or suggestive actions himself willingly.

The only son of the Itsuka family briefly sighed at his situation and again attempted to coax Tohka to come out of her room by knocking on her door and talking with concern. "Please, just hear me out!"

What he got in return was a loud bang on the door, followed by a miffed voice replying, "Why don't you go talk to your little girlfriend!? Leave me alone, baka! Baka!"

Shido sighed once more. Tohka wasn't going to leave her room at this rate. He thought briefly about what he could do to make her happy. He then smiled. Knowing Tohka too well, he knew that food might be the answer he was looking for. He was proceeding to make his way to the kitchen downstairs, until he heard a voice from the first floor.

"It would have been nice if she warped me to _inside_ the house. She could have at least left me at the front door."

The voice wasn't unfamiliar to Shido. He knew it all too well. It was with a normal pace of walking down the stairs did he find a bluenette wearing a Raizen High uniform, shaking his head and trying to dry himself off from the rain he came into contact with outside near the base of the stairs. The bluenette's gray eyes then met Shido's brown ones.

* * *

"I'm home, Shido," Arisato Minato greeted his housemate calmly. Prior to entering his place of residence, Kotori, for whatever reason, had teleported him to the empty lot next to the Itsuka household, while it was raining. Why she decided to do so, Minato chose to ignore it, assuming that she wanted to be mischievous.

A smile adorned Shido's face as he saw his housemate again.

"Welcome back, Minato." The other bluenette nodded in response with a smile of his own and looked around him and behind Shido, attempting to find their other housemate.

"Where's Tohka?" Minato asked as he took off his school blazer and slung it over his shoulder. He noticed that Shido was dressed in casual clothes, so he decided he would do the same later on.

"She's in her room. She's... not in the mood to talk to me." Shido laughed wryly while rubbing the back of his head.

"Ah... I see," Minato said in understanding. It wasn't hard to figure out why Tohka would be upset, considering the fact that he had been with Shido and can attest to observing his friend receiving the dark purple-haired girl's ire. He couldn't help but feel sorry for Shido with the situation he was in. "Have you tried cooking her food yet?"

"I actually plan on doing so right now," Shido responded, kind of surprised that Minato practically read his mind. Then again, this was Minato he was talking to. Shido believed that his friend was about as intuitive as a detective, or even Origami. Sometimes, it frightened him how the two were so alike. As of late, though, he had to admit that the male of the impassive pair was better at keeping their emotions in check.

With Minato in front of him, Shido decided now would be the best time to ask him if Kotori said anything about the two having to... date. The mere thought of that possibility was already hard enough to handle. He started to sweat a little as he gulped.

"Ano, did Kotori—" Before he could finish his question, he was promptly given his answer straightaway.

"She said we don't have to date," Minato stated bluntly, earning a sigh of relief from Shido. He didn't want to delve deeper than they had to with that topic.

"Man, that's a load off my mind," Shido said happily as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. Now he felt a lot better. "But wait, what about your Spirit powers, Minato?"

"Kotori said if I don't use my powers after a certain amount of time, then I'll be just as normal as you are. So long as I don't use them, there will be nothing to worry about," Minato elucidated with a carefree wave of his hand. With his other hand, he held up his Evoker that he retrieved from one of his blazer's pockets so that Shido could understand that it was the catalyst of his Persona abilities.

"You can't be a Spirit if you can't shoot yourself with that gun?" Shido queried as he pointed at the handgun in Minato's hand, feeling a tad anxious upon seeing the gun-shaped object.

"Pretty much. It's not an actual gun, in case you were wondering." The Persona-user shrugged before placing his Evoker in one of his pants' pockets. "By the way, I'm sorry if I made you and Tohka worry about me. You know, when I flew out of that store. It was my fault."

"No, it's perfectly fine, Minato! I'm just glad that you weren't hurt." The sheer relief heard in Shido's voice was made apparent to the other bluenette in the Itsuka household, to whom he gave a warm smile.

"Despite you saying that, I still plan to make it up to you and Tohka somehow," Minato assured calmly. Shido couldn't help but chuckle lightly at his best friend's determination. Honestly, he didn't need anything in particular at the moment. Given how serious Minato sounded, the oldest of the Itsuka siblings had to think of a task that was pretty reasonable for both of them.

"Uh... I think I'll be satisfied if you help me cook something for Tohka. That way, both her and I will be content," Shido suggested, earning a nod from his friend.

"All right, what do you have in mind? I was thinking of preparing teriyaki," Minato informed.

"Oooh, that sounds delicious! That should definitely bring a smile to Tohka's face!" Shido grinned widely.

"Teriyaki it is, then. Could you start without me for a few minutes? I'm going to change out of my uniform," Minato said as he began to walk to his room on the second floor of the Itsuka household.

"Sure. I'll just bring out some ingredients," Shido replied. Minato gave a nod and left for his room as Shido went to the kitchen.

* * *

Minato couldn't stop himself from letting out a sigh, as he finished changing into a plain black T-shirt and blue jeans in his room. He kept his mp3 player and headphones on him. On his desk was the rabbit puppet: Yoshinon. Whenever the Hermit will reemerge, he planned to give the rabbit to Shido so that he may acquire easy affection points. It was the more suitable course of action since it was Shido's mission to have Spirits fall in love with him so that he may seal their powers.

He was indeed relieved to be home once more and that Shido and Tohka were okay. Well, Tohka was currently mad, but it was better than not having her around. Shido didn't even seem to mind that Minato was a Spirit, nor did he ask many questions regarding that subject. Then again, this was Itsuka Shido, a naive young man with a gentle heart. Sometimes, he was too nice for his own good, but Minato supposed that's one part of Shido that he and Tohka respected.

Glancing through the window in his room, Minato reminisced on the aftermath of his examination with Reine before he left Fraxinus, which he passed with flying colors. Nothing appeared to be wrong with him, physically and mentally.

That, however, was the problem. _Nothing_ was wrong with him. After going through a few tests doctors would utilize, Minato was found to be perfectly healthy. When he was presented with that statement by Reine, he told her about his not-so-normal case of retrograde amnesia. She informed him that she was aware of that fact due to Kotori telling her about it prior to his discovery of Ratatoskr. Unfortunately, she said she couldn't find anything leading to a cause for his memory loss. He didn't have any physical injuries on his head that could have been possible origins, nor did he have a disease that corrupted his mind.

The only explanation Reine could come up with for Minato was that he might have experienced some sort of heavy psychological trauma. While it was a possibility, the blue-haired boy had to wonder what he could have possibly seen that would force him to forget literally everything about his past other than his name and knowledge of his Personas. It was odd that he only remembered those two specific things and that's it.

Although displeased with the likelihood that he may never know what his past held, Minato decided it was better to look towards the future. Constantly thinking about his past wouldn't do him any good.

And besides, he had people he cared for in Tengu City: Shido, Tohka, Kotori, and even Origami, to whom he realized that he had to be ready in case he might see her at school tomorrow. He felt that his place was with them for now.

Spirits, now that he was apparently one of them and seeing Shido's resolve to assist them, also needed to be saved from annihilation, despite that they were the sole reason spacequakes occur in the first place. From what he saw with the Hermit and the verity that Tohka was a Spirit as well, not all Spirits deserved to die. To his current knowledge and guess, some Spirits may be clueless about the destruction they cause through spacequakes. They're targeted because they can create spacequakes and of their power. Take all of that away, and they were practically as harmless as humans, if Tohka was a given example.

Eventually, Minato's attention from his thoughts was transferred to his room's door opening. From that door, a purple-haired girl whose hair was tied into a ponytail peeked inside. Her expression showed that she appeared to be jovial upon seeing Minato, but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes that didn't go unnoticed.

"Oh, hi, Tohka," Minato said as he raised a hand in greeting. He was pleased to see that Tohka decided to come out of her room.

"Nu... Hey, Minato. I'm glad that you're all right." Tohka tried to force on a smile as she entered Minato's room, but he easily saw through her attempt. Sure enough, she was depressed.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" Minato asked politely. Tohka shook her head frantically and then slammed Minato's door behind her.

"No! I don't want to talk about Shido!" She declared angrily. She gritted her teeth at the thought of the other blue-haired boy she knew.

"...But I didn't mention Shido," Minato countered calmly. He stood in front of Tohka, willing to hear her what she had to say and wanting to at least have some of her anger vent out.

Tohka sighed sadly when she became aware of herself accidentally saying what was on her mind. "...You're right. Sorry. I didn't come here to talk about him."

"What's wrong, then?" Minato inquired.

"...Could you bring some soy flour bread to my room? I... don't want to go downstairs just yet." Tohka crossed her arms with a nearly unnoticeable blush on her cheeks. She wasn't ready to talk to or encounter that person who shall not be named just yet.

"Hmm... I don't believe we have any at the moment," Minato wondered out loud. He was fairly certain that Tohka wiped out all the bread the Itsukas had just yesterday. Her gluttony never ceased to amaze him.

Right after Minato said those words, Tohka started to cry in a rather adorable way, admittedly.

"But I can go get some at a store," Minato added immediately. He didn't want Tohka to be more depressed than she already was. The spacequake warning had been lifted by now since a few hours had passed. Civilians should be out of the shelters and continuing their lives.

"Yay!" Tohka cheered, instantly ceasing her tears. She proceeded to exit Minato's room in a happy skipping fashion to go back to her room, leaving the amnesiac bluenette alone as he sweatdropped.

Minato couldn't help but smile at Tohka's typical cheeriness returning to her. It was rather contagious.

So with that, he went to grab a black hoodie to wear and left his room. It was still raining outside.

He went to the kitchen to tell Shido he was heading out, only to find the other blue-haired teen rummaging through the refrigerator.

"No, not there. Or there either. Crap, looks like we're all out." Shido sighed.

"All out of what?" Minato asked from behind as he tried to look in the fridge. Shido turned to face him and noticed his change of clothing.

"Oh, good timing, Minato! If you're heading out, could you get some trout for the teriyaki? It doesn't seem like we have any left," Shido briefed.

"I gotcha," Minato reassured calmly as he gave a thumbs-up. "Do you need anything else, Shido?"

"Ano... Nope. That's it," Shido said after contemplating for a moment.

"I guess I'll be going, then. See you later." Minato lifted a hand in farewell as Shido did the same. He went to fetch an umbrella before leaving the Itsuka residence. As far as he knew, the rain outside wasn't ending today.

* * *

"For now, I believe four bags of bread should suffice for Tohka," Minato said in satisfaction as he exited a grocery store. He had just finished his errands. Four out of five bags he was carrying contained the soy flour bread that she requested. He filled as many bags as he could carry due his understanding of Tohka's extreme metabolism that rivaled his. The fifth bag he was toting accommodated the trout he and Shido needed for teriyaki tonight. This would be the first time he would cook teriyaki during his stay with the Itsukas.

He could hardly wait to see Tohka's beaming face when she tasted it. Now that he already had a way of pleasing Tohka by fetching her favorite snack, Minato was going to give Shido all of the credit of making dinner in an attempt to have the gluttonous girl forgive him faster. It was best for everyone that a peaceful environment was maintained.

"All right, let's see... _When the Moon's Reaching Out Stars_." Minato selected a song from his mp3 that would be appropriate for his imminent walk through Tengu City. In nearly any situation he was in, he had fitting songs on his mp3 that he would listen to or play in his mind. He had no particular reason for doing such a thing. If he had to guess, he did it because it just gave more... meaning to what he did in his daily life.

After putting on his headphones, he opened up his umbrella, made sure he had everything he required, and began his walk back to the Itsukas' home.

_'Will Kotori be home in time for dinner? Being a commander of an organization has to be a pretty onerous job. I'll be sure to leave her a plate if she has to work late. I have a good feeling she will be late because of me,'_ Minato mused, feeling guilty that he might have caused Shido's sister to work overtime. Did overtime exist in Ratatoskr? He wasn't quite so sure.

Minato continued to ruminate over his thoughts as he had nothing better to do while strolled to his current home, other than listening to his music.

Unbeknownst to him, a girl with dark hair was walking behind him, smiling uncontrollably. She skipped in a nimble and graceful fashion in order to catch up to the bluenette that caught her eye some time ago.

"Minato-san~" Tokisaki Kurumi said in a stunningly sweet voice as she placed her hand on Minato's shoulder.

Despite not hearing Kurumi say his name, Minato did perceive his shoulder feeling heavier than before. He turned his head slightly and immediately noticed a red eye staring at him, an astonishingly short distance away from his face.

"Tokisaki-san?" Minato asked calmly after blinking a couple of times in surprise. He took off his headphones so that he wouldn't be rude while talking to somebody. Kurumi was walking beside him with an umbrella of her own. She appeared to be wearing the same black Gothic dress from the other day.

"Ara, ara, you don't seem too shocked to see me, Minato-san," Kurumi responded with an elated expression on her face. "Is it because you were expecting me?"

"Ano... I guess you could say that," Minato answered smoothly. In actuality, he wasn't expecting to see the girl he met two days ago today. The words he spoke came out reflexively without him thinking.

That really confused him.

"...Ara, you say it so naturally. Are you a player, Minato-san? You naughty boy," Kurumi said with a shy look. Minato could tell she was being overly dramatic, though. He couldn't help but notice how attractive she was when she did that, and considering how close the two were, it was made more apparent.

Yet, the blue-haired kuudere didn't show any emotions as he maintained a straight face. He was merely observing the girl that took a peculiar interest in him. He wasn't sure as to why she was interested in him. Was it because of his appearance? It honestly wouldn't surprise him if that was her rationale.

For the time being, Minato was indifferent about interacting with Kurumi. She seemed to be harmless. Was she a potential stalker? Perhaps, but he didn't care. He normally didn't associate himself with girls, aside from Tohka, Origami, and Kotori. For some reason, he felt comfortable talking to the dark-haired girl. She did act like the girls in Raizen High who tried to get his attention on a regular basis would, but she thankfully wasn't as annoying or intrusive as they were.

There was also something... off about her. Minato couldn't quite figure out what it was. He initially noticed it the day he met her but never indulged on the matter. It was just a fortuitous feeling, a feeling he set in the back of his mind.

Since Kurumi was with him now, he opted to make a conversation with her. They didn't talk much at their initial meeting to begin with.

"Are you out on errands, Tokisaki-san?" Minato queried, ignoring Kurumi's remark about him from earlier.

"No. I felt like taking a walk, and I must say, it was good thing I decided to do so. That decision led me to you," Kurumi replied simply with a smile.

_'...She's hard to read,'_ Minato thought briefly. He didn't know if she was lying or she simply found him by chance. Whether she was telling the truth or not, he decided to go along with it. "Is that so? What a coincidence, especially since this city is rather large." The dark-haired girl nodded in response.

"Were you grocery shopping, Minato-san? That's a lot of bread I see," Kurumi stated as her attention was focused to the bags Minato was toting.

"I was shopping, yes. I bought everything I needed, so I'm just on my way home," Minato replied. He could now see the Itsukas' house a few blocks ahead of him. He had to admit, talking to Kurumi did help pass some time, even if it was only a little. It was a shame that he had to end their conversation very soon.

"Is that so?" Kurumi asked.

"Yeah. I'm going to make dinner with the fish I bought once I'm back," Minato said.

"Is that so?" Kurumi repeated.

"...Oh, I'm sorry if I'm being boring, Tokisaki—" The bluenette cut his sentence short when he looked towards Kurumi, only to find that she wasn't next to him anymore. He stopped walking and surveyed his surroundings.

Kurumi was nowhere in sight. Where did she go? Did she disappear into thin air? Or did she just choose a strange time to make her exit?

In a way, he was kind of glad that she was gone because he wasn't sure if he wanted her to know where he lived. He sadly didn't know her well enough yet to trust her.

"What a mysterious girl... If she decided to go home, I hope she'll be safe," Minato murmured as he shrugged. He started to walk once more and continued on his way back home.

* * *

Tokisaki Kurumi found herself beaming and blushing from on top of the roof of a house as she listened to a blue-haired teen's concern for her.

"Ara, ara... Even though you don't know me well enough, you actually worry about me," Kurumi said with ecstasy as she licked her lips.

"Soon enough, Minato-san..."

* * *

Minato placed the umbrella he was using by the front door and took off his shoes after he entered the Itsuka residence.

"Shido, I got the fish we needed," he said as he stepped into the living room. He noticed that Shido was sitting at the dining room table, looking at his phone with his eyes narrowed. With a raised eyebrow, Minato approached his friend. "Did you get spam or something?"

"Huh? Oh! Hey, Minato!" Shido hastily placed his phone in his pocket and laughed wryly. "I didn't know you were home already," he said while rubbing the back of his head.

The Persona-user couldn't help but stare at him blankly because of that strange reaction.

"...So, I bought the fish," Minato stated collectedly as he held up the bag that contained their dinner, deciding to ignore Shido's abnormal behavior.

"Nice! Now we can get started!" Shido grinned auspiciously before blinking a few times at the other four grocery bags Minato had with him. "Ano, what's in those bags?"

"Soy flour bread I promised to fetch for Tohka," Minato answered honestly. Shido tilted his head in confusion. "She came into my room before I left and asked me to get some for her because she didn't want to come downstairs."

Shido couldn't stop himself from displaying a frown and then sighing in exasperation.

"Let's just hope this dinner and your bread will calm her down," Shido said tiredly.

* * *

**One Vivid Cooking Montage Later**

* * *

"Minato?"

"Yeah, Shido?"

"I believe we just made perfection," Shido stated.

"I concur," Minato responded simply.

Both bluenettes could do nothing but stare at the dinner that was in front of them on the dining room table. The teriyaki they created had turned out to be a delicacy of high-class when it was taste-tested. It was a dish that five-star restaurants couldn't even overcome.

"Now that that's out of the way," Shido began, "all we need now is for Tohka to come eat. The question is: How do we do it?" Shido knew without a doubt that Tohka wasn't going to leave her room if he went to get her himself, much to his dismay.

"I'll try to convince her," Minato said as he left for Tohka's room. He took some soy flour bread as a countermeasure should Tohka deny leaving her room, to which Shido gave an affirming nod as he set the dining room table alone.

When he was finished, Shido's expression became serious as he reached for his phone. He went to his text message inbox and brought up a text he received moments before Minato returned from shopping. It read:

_We need to talk. Come with me after school tomorrow. — Origami_

Shido had a fairly good guess as to what Tobiichi Origami wanted to talk about. It wasn't difficult. She most likely wanted to discuss about the person they both met on the same day and helped. The person who was recently revealed to be a Spirit: Arisato Minato.

Shido couldn't help but frown as he put his phone away and sat down on a chair. Although he knew Origami was a good person at heart, he felt that her animosity towards Spirits was rather severe, even for a member of a Spirit-extermination squad. It was sort of conspicuous when she and Tohka argued practically every single day since the dark purple-haired girl transferred into Raizen High with Minato, Shido himself being what they mainly verbally fought over, much to his chagrin.

He wanted Origami to believe that Minato didn't have any sinister intentions and was not a threat. Hopefully, she could be reasonable. From what he could gather, the amnesiac was pretty much like Tohka, reacting in self-defense and not truly desiring conflict. If Shido's time with him for the past month was any indication, Minato coveted for a normal life, despite having no recollection of his past.

The fact that Minato was a confirmed Spirit shed some light on his memory loss because there was a chance of him not even having a past to begin with, akin to Tohka.

Ultimately, the only son of the Itsuka family decided he would support and protect his friends as best as he could. Compared to Tohka and Minato, he was just an average human with nothing particularly special about him, aside from his mysterious and unique ability to seal the power of Spirits into his own body. Other than that, he was practically a vanilla rock associating itself with gemstones.

Nevertheless, because of his nature to help people in need, he would do whatever it took for them to be free from harm and the strains of being Spirits.

_'No one should ever feel despair like I did,'_ Shido ruminated sincerely.

* * *

**Next: Chapter 5: Raining Affections**

* * *

**A/N: **You know, I realized something as I was working on this chapter. The Date A Live universe is _really _lacking in amounts of important characters. You've got Shido, the Spirits, Ratatoskr, the AST (and we're only given three characters with names from the group), DEM (three notable characters at most), and either five or six side characters that appear every now and then. That's it. As much as I love Date A Live, that's one flaw that upsets me.

So, I'm fairly certain that I caught most of you off guard last chapter and this chapter. You all thought Minato could seal Spirits' powers? Nope. Minato does not have the same ability as Shido has, and never will in this story. If he did, then what purpose does Shido serve? Let me say this: I love Shido (no homo) as a character. There's absolutely no way I'm leaving him out to dry. He and Minato are the main protagonists in The Divine Spirit. There will of course be a slightly heavier focus on Minato, but they're the main protagonists nonetheless.

I'm shocked at how a majority of you guys liked the previous chapter. To me, it felt mediocre. Seriously, not my best work.

None of you guys asked this yet, but I might as well answer in case somebody actually does:

Does Minato have an Inverse form like Tohka had at the end of season 2?

The answer? Supposedly, **all** Spirits have Inverse forms. So, yes. He does.

The main girl for Minato was unanimous! The pairing will be Minato x Kurumi. I also might as well say that Shido will be paired with Tohka, since I think their relationship is cute. I've decided to let the Yamai twins remain in Shido's unwanted harem.

And now I will make this clear: no harem for Minato. Two reasons. One: re-watching Date A Live repeatedly made me realize the affections the female Spirits have for Shido were special and integral to both their character developments and Shido's. Two: There aren't enough female Spirits I could give to Minato without ruining the dynamic with Shido. Unless I have OCs in this story, which I'm sure many of you would not like, I believe a main girl for Minato should suffice.

Sorry if this chapter had nothing going on. This one's more of a breather chapter. Next time, Minato will face the AST again and other things may happen!

I didn't include this last chapter, so I'll list the Personas Minato will mainly use for combat and their skills below.

* * *

**Minato's Personas:**

**Persona: Messiah**

**Skills: Morning Star, Panta Rhei, God's Hand, Salvation, Mind Charge, Absorb Pierce, Enduring Soul, Magic Skill Up**

* * *

**Persona: Orpheus Telos**

**Skills: Thunder Reign, Ragnarok, Maragidyne, Salvation, Mind Charge, Elec Amp, Fire Amp, Victory Cry**

* * *

**Persona: Siegfried**

**Skills: Tempest Slash, Vorpal Blade, Power Charge, Auto-Masukukaja, Auto-Matarukaja, Auto-Marakukaja, Arms Master, High Counter**

* * *

**Persona: Kohryu**

**Skills: Ragnarok, Weary Thrust, Mediarahan, Samrecarm, Tetrakarn, Makarakarn, Fire Amp, Null Strike**

* * *

And that is pretty much all I have to say for now.

Thanks for reading! As always, reviews are appreciated!

Reviewers:

**aznxa21:** Yup!

**Guest #1:** Your wish has been granted!

**Guest #2:** That's an interesting challenge. I don't believe I will take it up, but you could suggest it in a Date A Live forum on this site!

**Seeker213:** Your reasoning does make sense! Two for the price of one!

**KO:** I've contemplated a Sword Art Online crossover with Persona 4 before, but what's preventing me from doing one is the gap in time. The story of SAO takes place in 2022, and it continues beyond that year since the story isn't finished yet. By that time, the Investigation Team would be around 27 or 28 years old. It's possible to execute a plot, but I don't see a very good one that would entail Yu/Souji, Yosuke, et cetera, participating in SAO at their age. I also don't want to alter the timelines in which the SAO incident is over by 2011, the year Persona 4 begins. But who knows? I may concede one day and do it. I could have sworn I read a challenge on someone's profile similar to what you're asking. Oh, and thank goodness I have a PS3! And yay, the Egocentric Police Dick is free DLC for a week following Ultimax's launch date! There is also Marie from Persona 4 Golden that will be in the game as a DLC character.

**little puppy:** Thanks for thinking this story is cool! Anyway, Minato has a good conscience. He doesn't want to cause senseless mass destruction in the city that he lives in, even if the damage can be undone, nor does he want to murder people like the AST despite the fact they're set on killing him.

**Han-Ko:** Thank you, and no problem!

**llat-2:** Is there anyone Origami hasn't tried to kill?

**crasher23:** That's probably the nicest review I've ever received! I do my best to keep everyone in character. Minato is... out there because he's a heroic mime in the game, so I include elements of his manga counterpart and a few other things.

**UnorthodoxDreamer:** I am way ahead of you, good reader! I've had that idea for the longest time!

**Requiem81:** Well, your guesses are on the mark. I'm surprised that someone actually commented on the quotes I use. You are correct. There is also another meaning behind chapter 1's quote. Moving on to your next question, I really, really do want to incorporate Rinne into this story if I can. Should I do so, the chapters involving her will be more like a filler arc.

**VoidEnter:** Thank you!


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